An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said that “removal proceedings will continue” against a Dalton State College student who ended up in ICE custody after a police officer pulled her over by mistake in a traffic stop.
At the same time, the young woman’s family had an immigration court rule its way Wednesday: Her father, who was in detention following a separate arrest, got a bond approved by an immigration judge, according to a lawyer who has been working with the family.
This means the father, Jose Arias-Tovar, may be able to fight his immigration case from outside detention. Meanwhile, his daughter, Ximena Arias-Cristobal, would remain in ICE custody — at least for now.
A Dalton police officer pulled the 19-year-old over last week after confusing her vehicle for another, the city acknowledged Monday, leading it to drop the local traffic charges against her.
But by this point, Arias-Cristobal’s lawyer said, ICE had already picked her up from the Whitfield County Jail and taken her to its own detention center in South Georgia, where her father was being housed following his own prior arrest.