A college student in Georgia and her family are facing deportation after she ran a red light and got pulled over by police. Authorities discovered her whole family has been living illegally in the United States for almost 15 years.
According to the New York Post, Mexican national Ximena Arias-Cristobal, 19, was pulled over by police in Dalton, Georgia on May 5.
She was reportedly driving without a driver’s license and told officers that she had an international driver’s license. She later admitted that she had no such document.
She was then transported to a partner of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (via NYP):
She was transported to the Whitfield County Jail, a partner of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(G) program, used to identify illegal aliens in the country.
“This program operates based on a series of reviews and background checks completed only after an inmate is already arrested for an Offense under Georgia Law,” the jail’s operation guide said.
Arias-Cristobal was processed through the federal database, which confirmed she wasn’t a US citizen.
She was brought to ICE’s Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., where her father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, is also being held.
Georgia college student faces deportation after running red light — police discover her entire family is living illegally in US for years https://t.co/qRVkXJx2eF pic.twitter.com/4wazIgRbfG
— New York Post (@nypost) May 8, 2025
Additionally, Arias-Cristobal was paying out-of-state tuition for Dalton State Community College despite living in the area.
Turns out, in 2010, Arias-Cristobal was brought into the US illegally by her parents when she was 4 years old. The family relocated from Mexico City to the Dalton area, near the Tennessee and Georgia border.
Her father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, was arrested last month for reportedly driving 19 miles over the speed limit. He was denied paperwork to remain in the United States.
Terry Olsen, an immigration attorney based in Tennessee, reportedly said that Arias-Cristobal’s mother will be arrested and deported within a month and her daughters will be taken with her.
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