A Georgia teen was brought to tears as she reunited with her family after spending weeks in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.
Ximena Arias-Cristobal was stopped by a Dalton police officer on May 5 for allegedly making an improper turn and was subsequently booked into the county jail for driving without a license, News Channel 9 reported. Upon learning Arias-Cristobal had emigrated from Mexico without legal documentation, authorities alerted ICE and she was transferred to a detention facility four hours from home.
It was later revealed through police dashcam footage that Arias-Cristobal was not behind the wheel of the vehicle involved in the traffic violation, and the officer had pulled over the wrong truck.
The 19-year-old college student was granted a $1,500 bond on Wednesday and released from ICE the following day.
"There's a lot of emotions; happiness, sadness. I'm very happy and very blessed to be back with my family," Arias-Cristobal said in a CBS News TikTok video.
The newly released teen told the media she was looking forward to eating pambazos, a Mexican dish, taking a long shower, and "getting as many hours of sleep as I want without getting woken up by screaming."
@cbsnews A Georgia teenager who was detained by federal deportation officers following local traffic charges that have since been dismissed was released from immigration custody late Thursday and returned home to her family. Ximena Arias Cristobal, 19, was released by ICE one day after an immigration judge granted her bond. Arias Cristobal, who came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 4, had been in ICE custody starting in early May, when she was stopped by local police in Dalton over allegations that she had made an improper turn while driving. She was charged with driving without a license and booked into the county jail in Dalton. ICE then took custody of Arias Cristobal, who is in the U.S. illegally, at the county jail, which has an agreement to work with federal immigration authorities. Though she was released from detention, she will continue to face deportation to Mexico, as ICE has started a deportation case against her in immigration court. #georgia #ice #mexico
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Arias-Cristobal still faces deportation, according to reporting by News Channel 9, but her legal team does not think her next court date will be scheduled ahead of mid-2026.
Her father, Josè Francisco Arias-Tovar, also faces deportation after he was pulled over for speeding and sent to the same facility as his daughter earlier this month. He was released last week, per a Facebook post shared by journalist Mary-Beth Mangrum, but said his "happiness cannot be completed because my daughter is still there."
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