A judge on Wednesday granted bond to the North Georgia teen who ended up in a federal immigration detention after a Dalton police officer pulled her over by mistake.
The decision means Ximena Arias-Cristobal will have far more time to fight the government’s deportation effort, her lawyer said — and probably better odds. More immediately, it means the Dalton State College student will be able to resume aspects of her normal life among friends and family as her case proceeds.
Even as overall U.S. deportation rates in recent months have mirrored those of the Biden era, Arias-Cristobal’s arrest has drawn national attention, a symbol of the Trump administration’s willingness to arrest and initiate removal proceedings against a wide range of unauthorized immigrants.
Arias-Cristobal was brought into the U.S. at around 4 years old, her lawyer has said. Now 19, she was pulled over by a Dalton police officer earlier this month after allegedly making a right turn on red despite a “no turn on red” sign.
When it turned out she did not have a Georgia driver’s license, the officer arrested her. And soon after she was booked in the local jail, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took her into custody, her lawyer said, transporting her to its South Georgia detention center to face removal proceedings.