WASHINGTON, DC — A 19-year-old Dalton teen arrested by ICE following a wrongful traffic stop testifies before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday.
Ximena Arias-Cristobal was pulled over when a Dalton police officer mistook her vehicle for another that made an illegal turn.
She was then taken to an ICE detention center in south Georgia and held over two weeks.
“At Stewart, we were treated like criminals. The conditions, the language used toward us, the lack of dignity and compassion-it felt more like punishment than due process,” said Arias-Cristobal.
She says when she was locked up, she learned there were many others who were also picked up by ICE and that this was an eye opener for many.
“It enlightened people from my community that this isn’t an immigration problem. It’s a human right’s problem.”
The officer who pulled her resigned in May.
Cristobal is planning to become a US citizen now.
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