The traffic stop of a Georgia college student has led authorities to uncover the fact that she and members of her family have been living in the United States illegally for over a decade.
Ximena Arias-Cristobal, a 19-year-old Mexican national attending Dalton State Community College, was pulled over on May 5 after failing to abide by a “no turn on red” sign, according to a Thursday report.
Arias-Cristobal was not driving with a license. She informed local Dalton police that she held an international driver’s license, which she quickly admitted she did not have when asked to present it, the report noted.
The college student said her mother had taken it from her after saying she should not be driving. Further investigation revealed that Arias-Cristobal had been brought to the country illegally at the age of 4 from Mexico City.
Student in US since she was 4 faces potential deportation https://t.co/Er1yZhKYEG
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) May 8, 2025
When the officer who pulled her over attempted to speak with Arias-Cristobal’s mother and the vehicle’s owner, neither spoke English, according to the report.
The teenager was arrested on the charges of failure to obey traffic control devices and driving without a valid license, taken to Whitfield County Jail, and processed in a federal database that confirmed she was in the country illegally.
Whitfield County Jail partners with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(G) program, which conducts background checks and reviews following an individual’s arrest under Georgia law, according to the jail.
Arias-Cristobal was then taken to an ICE facility in Lumpkin, Georgia, the same place that her father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, is being held after being pulled over in a traffic stop, the report noted.
Arias-Tovar was purportedly denied paperwork to remain in the U.S., and it is unconfirmed if he ever tried to become a citizen. Arias-Cristobal’s mother is also in the country illegally.
“They came in with big dreams because they wanted a big future for my older sister. And, you know, my sister goes to college, and she was an honor student since middle school,” Arias-Cristobal’s younger sister said while translating for her mother.
TOM HOMAN NAMED NATIONAL POLICE DEFENSE FOUNDATION ‘MAN OF THE YEAR’
“She runs. She loves to run. It’s her passion, and the only reason they came is to follow my sister’s dreams.”
Arias-Cristobal, who is reportedly facing possible deportation, was not eligible for the DACA program, according to Hannah Jones, a woman who used the college student as a babysitter and created a GoFundMe to help her.