ATLANTA — The 19-year-old undocumented college student who was wrongfully pulled over by Dalton police and then placed into ICE custody spoke at her Atlanta attorney’s office on Tuesday.
“I know everything that I’m going through is unjust,” Ximena Arias-Cristabol said.
“Bottom line, she should’ve never been arrested,” immigration attorney Dustin Baxter said.
She spent over two weeks in the Stewart Detention Center. During that time, her story made national headlines as family, friends, immigration activists, and community members pushed for the 19-year-old’s release.
On Thursday, a federal judge granted Arias-Cristabol bond, and she returned to her Dalton home on Friday night.
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Over the weekend, the Dalton police officer who stopped Arias-Cristabol resigned from the department.
Now, she says she is working to stay here legally.
“I think going through a U-Visa is best for me,” Arias-Cristabol added.
“A U-Visa is a visa for people who have been victims of crimes and that would stem from the circumstances surrounding her arrest,” Baxter told Channel 2’s Audrey Washington.
Attorney Joshua McCall, who does not represent Arias-Cristabol, said her case, like many others, is complicated.
“It is extremely difficult and expensive even if you have a path to naturalization, but many of them don’t,” McCall said. “What many people thought was going to happen, which was deporting awful, terrible criminals, has turned into a quota system.”
Baxter said he is working to make sure both Arias-Cristabol and her father can stay in the country permanently.
He said the immigration process may proceed through 2026 or even 2027.
On Tuesday afternoon, Washington asked Arias-Cristobal how she will feel when she is finally a U.S. citizen.
“I will feel great. Like a weight off my chest,” Arias-Cristabol.
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