ATLANTA (WANF/Gray News) – A community is fighting to prevent the deportation of a 19-year-old college student who is in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Ximena Arias-Cristobal, of Dalton, Georgia, was stopped by police on Monday for making an improper turn. She was taken into custody for driving without a valid license.
Arias-Cristobal was eventually taken to an ICE detention center in Lumpkin, Georgia.
“This is where she went to school. This is where she started at school first,” her younger sister Aurora said.
Although undocumented, Arias-Cristobal has lived in the same county in Georgia, Whitfield County, since she was four years old. She graduated from Dalton High School and currently attends Dalton State University, according to WTVC.
“This is where she grew up, and this is where she has all her friends. This is her life,” Aurora said.
Her family said the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA, stopped accepting new applications before she was eligible.
“She’s angry, then she’s sad and then she’s just nervous on what the next step can be … if she can be deported to Mexico or if she’s going to stay,” her sister said.
The sisters’ father, Arias Tovar, is also undocumented and in the same detention center as his daughter after he was arrested for speeding and driving without a license.
The community has shown its support through a growing GoFundMe page set up to help Arias-Cristobal obtain legal aid. The family has an attorney who told WANF he is requesting a bond hearing from the judge.
Arias-Cristobal’s mother said her daughter is not a criminal and should be home.
“She’s just heartbroken and sad because you don’t want your daughter to be in a jail while you’re here fighting for her,” her mother said through a translator.
Georgia House Rep. Kasey Carpenter, who represents Dalton, told WANF he wrote a letter to the judge on behalf of Arias-Cristobal and her character.
In a statement posted to social media, the Department of Homeland Security said Arias-Cristobal and her father will be able to go back to Mexico together.
“Mr. Tovar had ample opportunity to seek a legal pathway to citizenship. He chose not to,” the department said. “We are not ignoring the rule of law.”
