by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix
April 18, 2025

A federal judge brought up the arrest in Leon County of Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen born in Georgia, during a hearing Friday in which she extended her block of the new Florida immigration law until April 29.

U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams expressed frustration about the arrests of Lopez-Gomez and others, said an attorney representing the immigrants and groups suing the state.

At issue is Williams’ April 4 order temporarily barring enforcement of a law passed during a special session earlier this year making it a first-degree misdemeanor to illegally enter the state as an “unauthorized alien.”

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper’s arrest of Lopez-Gomez on Wednesday prompted national attention following Florida Phoenix’s reports that he was set to remain in jail because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had placed a 48-hour hold on him — even after a Leon County judge determined there had been no probable cause for the arrest.

Lopez-Gomez was released from Leon County jail on Thursday evening. The 20-year-old held his mother in a tight embrace and wept when they reunited.

“We appreciate that the federal courts have seen through this blatantly unconstitutional law, but the reality is that, without enforcement, it seems that local law enforcement and Florida Highway Patrol are continuing to ignore the judge and order,” said Miriam Fahsi Haskell, an attorney for Community Justice Project representing the plaintiffs, in a phone interview with the Phoenix. “The reality is that once a person is arrested under SB 4C and booked into jail, that person risks then having an ICE hold on them.”

Community Justice Project, the ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Florida Legal Services attorneys are representing the plaintiffs: the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Farmworker Association of Florida Inc., and two women without permanent legal status.

David Matthew Costello, lead attorney representing Attorney General James Uthmeier, declined to comment, and a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office did not respond to the Phoenix’s questions. The other defendants are the statewide prosecutor and state attorneys.

Binding?

During the hearing at the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida in Miami, attorneys representing the state argued that law enforcement is not bound by Williams’ order, Fahsi Haskell said. Another hearing is set for April 29.

“The Court enters a [temporary restraining order] prohibiting Defendants and their officers, agents, employees, attorneys, and any person who are in active concert or participation with them from enforcing SB 4-C,” Williams’ order states.

Two other men were with Lopez-Gomez when the trooper stopped the car because the driver was going 78 mph in a 65 mph zone, according to the arrest report. The driver, Estiven Sales-Perez, and another passenger, Ismael Sales-Luis, were also charged with illegal entry as “unauthorized aliens.” The driver was also charged with driving without a license.

ICE has taken custody of Sales-Perez and is holding him in a Tallahassee field office, according to the online detainee locator system.

“Florida Highway Patrol will continue to work willingly with our federal partners to engage in interior enforcement of immigration law,” a spokesperson for the agency wrote in a statement to the Phoenix.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried called the arrest a kidnapping.

“Where does the lawlessness of this administration stop? If this can happen to an American-born citizen, it can happen to any of us,” she said in a statement.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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