1. United States
2. Utah
3. Letter

ICE should not be detaining U.S. citizens, yet a disturbing case has come to light of Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, a 21-year-old born in Georgia, being arrested in Florida and held for 48 hours on an ICE detainer despite his mother providing his birth certificate and Social Security card. This egregious violation of his constitutional rights as a citizen appears to stem from a recent Florida law empowering authorities to detain perceived unauthorized immigrants, even when that law is under a restraining order against enforcement. Clearly, proper protocols were not followed to verify Lopez Gomez's citizenship before detaining him. This unlawful detention highlights the overzealous approach taken by ICE and some states in pursuing harsh immigration policies that trample on civil liberties and due process. Detaining a U.S. citizen is an unacceptable breach that demands accountability and reform to prevent any recurrence of such injustice against Americans.