Who is Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez— US-born man released after being charged as an 'unauthorised alien'

Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez walked out of a Florida jail after spending a night in custody for being wrongly accused of being an “unauthorised alien,” reported CNN.

A video on social media shows his emotional reunion with his mother.

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez has been released. This is the moment he reunited with his mom. pic.twitter.com/4ODBw8cGDm

— Jackie Llanos (@LlanosJackie) April 17, 2025

Gomez was arrested on Wednesday by the Florida Highway Patrol during a traffic stop, according to his lawyer Mutaqee Akbar. He was travelling to Tallahassee for his construction job, crossing the Florida state line from his home in Georgia—a routine 45-minute commute for work.

Who is Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez?

• Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, aged 20, was born in the United States, in Grady County, Georgia, and lives in the town of Cairo, Georgia.
• He works in carpet installation and has been employed in the same company for four years.
• Although born in the US, he spent much of his childhood in Mexico.
• His first language is Tzotzil, an indigenous Maya language.
• He is the eldest of four siblings, all born in the United States.
• His family told CNN his "Hispanic" appearance and language background led officers to wrongly assume he was undocumented.

During a virtual court hearing, judge LaShawn Riggans examined Lopez Gomez’s original birth certificate presented by his mother and declared it authentic.

Lopez Gomez’s detention has been widely criticised as a glaring example of the misuse of Florida’s controversial SB 4-C law. The legislation penalises migrants who re-enter Florida unlawfully, but a federal judge had already blocked the law earlier this month, according to CNN.