US citizen from Georgia released from jail after arrest under Florida’s new anti-immigration law

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez hugs his mom at a Wendy’s in Leon County following his release from jail on April 17, 2025. (Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix)

This story was updated on Friday, April 18 at 10:13 a.m.

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez held his mother in a tight embrace and wept following his release from the Leon County Jail Thursday evening, where the U.S. citizen was held after his arrest for illegally entering Florida as an “unauthorized alien.”

An official with Homeland Security Investigations in Tallahassee took Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old born in Georgia, to a Wendy’s near the jail, where he reunited with his mother after spending more than 24 hours under arrest following a traffic stop in which he was a passenger.