MIAMI, USA: A US citizen was arrested in Florida for allegedly being in the country illegally and held for pickup by immigration authorities even after his mother showed a judge her son’s birth certificate and the judge dismissed charges.
Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, 20, was in a car that was stopped just past the Georgia state line by the Florida Highway Patrol on Wednesday, said Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson at the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
Gomez and others in the car were arrested under a new Florida law, which is on hold, making it a crime for people who are in the country illegally to enter the state.
It is unclear if Lopez Gomez showed documents proving he is a citizen to the arresting officers. He was held at Leon County Jail and released after his case received widespread media coverage.
The charge of illegal entry into Florida was dropped Thursday after his mother showed the judge his state identification card, birth certificate and Social Security card, said Kennedy, who attended the hearing.
Court records show Judge Lashawn Riggans found no basis for the charge.
Lopez Gomez briefly remained in custody after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement requested he remain there for 48 hours, a common practice when the agency wants to take custody of someone. ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
The case drew widespread attention because ICE is not supposed to take custody of US-born citizens. While the immigration agency can occasionally get involved in cases of naturalized citizens who committed offenses such as lying on immigration forms, it has no authority over people born in the US
Adding to the confusion is a federal judge’s ruling to put a hold on enforcement of the Florida law against people who are in the country illegally entering the state, which meant it should not have been enforced.
“No one should be arrested under that law, let alone a US citizen,” said Alana Greer, an immigration attorney from the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “They saw this person, he didn’t speak English particularly well, and so they arrested him and charged him with this law that no one (should) be charged with.”
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A US citizen was held for pickup by ICE even after proving he was born in the country
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A US citizen was held for pickup by ICE even after proving he was born in the country
- It is unclear if Lopez Gomez showed documents proving he is a citizen to the arresting officers
- Court records show Judge Lashawn Riggans found no basis for the charge
N Korean leader’s daughter fuels succession speculation with mausoleum visit
SEOUL: The North Korean leader’s daughter Kim Ju Ae has made her first public visit to a mausoleum housing her grandfather and great-grandfather, state media images showed Friday, further solidifying her place as likely next in line to run the nuclear-armed dictatorship.
The Kim family has ruled North Korea with an iron grip for decades, and a cult of personality surrounding their so-called “Paektu bloodline” dominates daily life in the isolated country.
Current leader Kim Jong Un is the third in line to rule in the world’s only communist monarchy, following his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung.
The two men — dubbed “eternal leaders” in state propaganda — are housed in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a vast mausoleum in downtown Pyongyang.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim Jong Un had visited the palace, accompanied by top officials. Images released by the agency showed daughter Ju Ae alongside him.
South Korea’s spy agency said last year she was now understood to be the next in line to rule North Korea after she accompanied her father on a high-profile visit to Beijing.
- ‘Presented as Kim’s successor’ -
And Cheong Seong-chang at Seoul’s Sejong Institute said he expected her to soon be “formally confirmed as the next successor both domestically and internationally.”
Cheong, author of a book on the Kim leadership, said her placement in the center of the front row during her visit to the place — a place typically reserved for her father — was especially notable.
It could be “interpreted as reporting to the ‘eternal leaders’ Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that she is being presented as his successor,” he said.
Ju Ae was publicly introduced to the world in 2022 when she accompanied her father to an intercontinental ballistic missile launch.
North Korean state media have since referred to her as “the beloved child,” and a “great person of guidance” — “hyangdo” in Korean — a term typically reserved for top leaders and their successors.
Before 2022, the only confirmation of her existence had come from former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who made a visit to the North in 2013.
Analysts have suggested that she could be elected First Secretary of the Central Committee, the second most powerful position in the North Korean ruling party, at a landmark congress due to be held in the coming weeks.
On Thursday, footage showed Ju Ae accompanying her parents at New Year celebrations in Pyongyang.
While first lady Ri Sol Ju kept a low profile, state TV showed Ju Ae placing one hand on the North Korean leader’s face and kissing him on the cheek — a rare public display of affection which drew headlines in South Korea.
The Kim family has ruled North Korea with an iron grip for decades, and a cult of personality surrounding their so-called “Paektu bloodline” dominates daily life in the isolated country.
Current leader Kim Jong Un is the third in line to rule in the world’s only communist monarchy, following his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung.
The two men — dubbed “eternal leaders” in state propaganda — are housed in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a vast mausoleum in downtown Pyongyang.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim Jong Un had visited the palace, accompanied by top officials. Images released by the agency showed daughter Ju Ae alongside him.
South Korea’s spy agency said last year she was now understood to be the next in line to rule North Korea after she accompanied her father on a high-profile visit to Beijing.
- ‘Presented as Kim’s successor’ -
And Cheong Seong-chang at Seoul’s Sejong Institute said he expected her to soon be “formally confirmed as the next successor both domestically and internationally.”
Cheong, author of a book on the Kim leadership, said her placement in the center of the front row during her visit to the place — a place typically reserved for her father — was especially notable.
It could be “interpreted as reporting to the ‘eternal leaders’ Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that she is being presented as his successor,” he said.
Ju Ae was publicly introduced to the world in 2022 when she accompanied her father to an intercontinental ballistic missile launch.
North Korean state media have since referred to her as “the beloved child,” and a “great person of guidance” — “hyangdo” in Korean — a term typically reserved for top leaders and their successors.
Before 2022, the only confirmation of her existence had come from former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who made a visit to the North in 2013.
Analysts have suggested that she could be elected First Secretary of the Central Committee, the second most powerful position in the North Korean ruling party, at a landmark congress due to be held in the coming weeks.
On Thursday, footage showed Ju Ae accompanying her parents at New Year celebrations in Pyongyang.
While first lady Ri Sol Ju kept a low profile, state TV showed Ju Ae placing one hand on the North Korean leader’s face and kissing him on the cheek — a rare public display of affection which drew headlines in South Korea.
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