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A Georgia police officer has resigned from his job after erroneously pulling over a teenager, causing her to spend more than two weeks in a federal immigration jail, and leaving her facing deportation.
The officer, Leslie O’Neal, was employed at the police department in Dalton, a small city more than an hour north of Atlanta.
Though no reason for O’Neal’s resignation was provided, his arrest of college student Ximena Arias-Cristobal not only led to a domino effect that could lead to her deportation – it also engendered anger and criticism, especially given the circumstances of her immigration-related detention.
On 5 May, O’Neal pulled Arias-Cristobal over in Dalton. The officer accused her of improperly making a false turn – but those charges were later dropped after the police force admitted to mistaking her car for another.
The damage, though, was done by the time Arias-Cristobal’s charges were dismissed. The 19-year-old – who is undocumented and was driving with a Mexican license – was brought to the US from Mexico in 2007, when she was just four.
The timing of her having been taken to the US barely missed the deadline for her to qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca), a program initiated during Barack Obama’s presidency that provided children in her situation some protections from deportation.
After O’Neal arrested her, local authorities contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), the federal agency that detains and deports immigrants. Ice agents then transferred her to an immigration jail in the state.
“I cannot go to jail,” Arias-Cristobal said during the arrest, according to dash-cam footage. “I have my finals next week. My family depends on this.”
Arias-Cristobal’s plight captured national attention, with many supporting her and calling for her release. Others – including the far-right Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene – agitated for Arias-Cristobal to be deported.
“In Mexico, today, there’s over 1.6 million United States of America citizens, living and thriving in Mexico, and I’m sure she and her family will be able to do the same,” Greene said during an interview with Georgia’s Local 3 News. “But it’s important for our nation, for our sovereignty, for us to uphold the law. And this is what we have to do.”
The White House’s attempts to engage in “mass deportations” during Donald Trump’s second presidency has led to an increase in arrests throughout the country. Immigration enforcement operations have been aided by local jurisdictions that partner with Ice, under what are known as 287(g) contracts. These contracts deputize local officials to carry out immigration enforcement arrests, collaborating closely with Ice.
The Whitfield county sheriff’s office, which runs the local jail for people arrested in Dalton, has a 287(g) contract with Ice.
Additionally, a law signed last year by Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, requires local law enforcement, in the entire state, to apply to enter into 287(g) contracts with Ice. Immigration advocacy organizations have called that law “disastrous”.
The Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, for instance, said it would lead to “racial profiling, terrorize immigrant communities and waste local resources”.
Arias-Cristobal’s father, José Arias-Tovar, had also been detained by Ice weeks earlier after another traffic stop for speeding. He bonded out of Ice detention on 16 May. Five days later, Arias-Cristobal paid a $1,500 bond, leading to her release. She was home with her family by Thursday evening.
“We’re going to keep working on her case to try to keep her here permanently,” Arias-Cristobal’s attorney, Dustin Baxter, told local TV station WSB-TV.
Arias-Cristobal’s arrest has prompted some to rally for her release, whether in person or online. Her advocates have criticized Ice and the local police department for how they have handled her case.
A GoFundMe campaign launched for her legal defense has raised more than $90,000.
The jail where Arias-Cristobal was detained before she bonded out is known as the Stewart detention center. It is a run privately in Lumpkin, Georgia, by CoreCivic under a contract with Ice and for years has been accused of violating rights and maintaining horrific conditions.
