Georgia teen speaks publicly days after returning home from ICE custody
ATLANTA, Ga. - A Dalton State College student, who was wrongfully pulled over and then held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for weeks because of her undocumented status, spoke publicly about her immigration journey Tuesday evening.
19 year-old Ximena Arias-Cristobal and her attorneys gave remarks and answered questions during a press conference scheduled Tuesday night.
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Arias-Cristobal said her life has been unenjoyable since her release.
“I feel, the perfect word is drained,” she said. “It kinda flips your world, we now kinda live more in fear before we lived in fear, now a lot more.”
Arias-Cristobal flanked with her lawyers Tuesday during the press conference, said her life has been on pause since her release.
The college student’s life got upended after Dalton Police itted to wrongfully arresting her May 5 for driving without a license, after they said they pulled over the wrong car for a traffic violation.
The arrest landed her in ICE detention for weeks, when officials learned she has been in the U.S. since the age of four without proper documentation.
Arias-Cristobal was released Thursday after more than two weeks at Stewart Detention Center, a south Georgia ICE facility following her arrest.
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“I used to run every single day, go to the gym, hang out with friends on a daily, and that’s not something I can do anymore, because i do think I am a target in my community,” said Arias-Cristobal.
The city of Dalton dropped all charges against Arias-Cristobal, and the officer who wrongfully arrested her, Leslie Allen O’Neal, has since resigned.
“I forgive him, and there is nothing I hold against him,” said Arias-Cristobal.
Her lawyer, Dustin Baxter, said the wrong arrest might help her case. They said they are looking into getting Ximena approved for a “U-Visa,” given to people who are victims of a crime. Baxter said on the list of crimes is false arrest. Baxter said they are investigating her wrongful arrest.
“What I want to do is make a difference for as many people as I can before I die,” said Baxter. “Especially during istrations like the trump istration, where victories are harder to come by and everything is so depressing everyday for people like her. When we get these victories, when we get people out on bond, we have to savior them, and enjoy them,” said Baxter.
Arias-Cristobal said for the people she lived with in detention, she is calling for immigration reform.
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“There are horror stories in there, things people wouldn’t even imagine, and I just pray for a better system and a better America, that can allow people to get legal statues without going thru the trauma they are going through in there,” explained Arias-Cristobal.
Arias-Cristobal’s father, Jose Arias-Tovar, who’s also undocumented, was detained in the same ICE facility for weeks after he was arrested for an alleged traffic violation. He was granted bond and released two weeks ago.
Arias-Cristobal, and her dad, have the same attorney now of Dustin Baxter.
While both of their files are being transported from Stewart Detention Center to Atlanta and their cases have been moved off the speedy docket to the regular docket, their cases differ, according to their lawyer. Baxter said for Arias-Cristobal, they are looking to set a court date for continuation for her deportation proceedings, likely set for late 2026 to 2027. Baxter said for Arias-Tovar’s case they will be applying for “cancellation of removal,” because he has U.S born children who would suffer if he was deported and he has been here for more than ten years. Arias-Tovar’s case hearing, Baxter said, will likely be the same time frame of late 2026 to 2027.
Baxter said Arias-Cristobal will need a parent who is a citizen or has permanent status to apply for the same cancellation as her father’s, so Baxter said, Arias-Cristobal’s case might be depended on the success of father’s case. Baxter said, if the father’s case is approved that will give his daughter a parent with permanent status, so she is eligible to apply for cancellation of removal.
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