Gainesville resident pulled over for cracked windshield now in ICE detention — and, his family says, at risk

In late June, Antonio Aguirre Villa was driving to work at a Gainesville construction site when he was pulled over by the Georgia State Patrol. Officers said it was because his windshield was cracked. 

According to a police report obtained via public records request, a state trooper pulled Villa over in a grocery store parking lot. Originally from Mexico but living in Georgia since 2009, Villa presented his Maryland driver’s license. The officer contacted Homeland Security Investigations — a law enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — to confirm Villa’s citizenship status.

“They notified me that Mr. ANTONIO was in the United States illegally and will come pick him up of [sic] further investigation,” the report reads. “ICE Agents arrived on scene and took custody of Mr. ANTONIO.”