Georgia teen detained by ICE after mistaken arrest says detention was 'life-changing'
The Georgia teen who was arrested in a case of mistaken identity -- and then detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over her undocumented status -- is saying a day after her release on bond that her time in custody was "life-changing."
Ximena Arias-Cristobal, 19, was arrested on May 5 in Dalton, Georgia, when her dark gray truck was mistaken for a black pickup that made an illegal turn. Those citations were later dropped once officials realized there was a mix-up, Dalton Assistant Police Chief Chris Crossen said.
But she was still detained by ICE after it was discovered she was an undocumented immigrant.
As she was being transferred to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, she stopped at some offices in Atlanta, she said.
"They had me in a room by myself for nine hours. I didn't know what was going on. It was never explained," Arias-Cristobal told Chattanooga, Tennessee, ABC affiliate WTVC Thursday after her release from detention.
"Being in Stewart changed my life. It's something that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. It's life-changing," she said.
Arias-Cristobal, a student at Dalton State College, was in the ICE detention center for two weeks.
"It was scary. I was terrified," Arias-Cristobal told WTVC.
“I won’t ever be the same,” she told Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB in a separate phone interview.
Arias-Cristobal was released on a $1,500 bond and the government did not wish to appeal, according to her attorney.
"We do not have another hearing currently scheduled. It would be remarkable if it is before mid-2026," Charles Kuck, an attorney for Arias-Cristobal, told WTVC.
She was granted bond on Wednesday and reunited with family at her home on Thursday.
The teen came to the U.S. with her parents when she was 4 years old and is ineligible for relief from deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which temporarily protects some migrants from deportation if they were brought to the country as children, an attorney for Arias-Cristobal told ABC News.
Arias-Cristobal was not eligible to register for the DACA program because it ended before she became eligible to apply at 16 years old.
The Department of Homeland Security said following her detainment that it is committed to ordering Arias-Cristobal to "self-deport" to Mexico and that she "admitted to illegally entering the United States and has no pending applications with USCIS."
