(The Center Square) – Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said she was reviewing a case where Border Patrol detained a U.S. citizen in the state for 10 days.
“My office has reached out to ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) for answers on how this was allowed to happen to an American citizen. It is wholly unacceptable to wrongfully detain U.S. citizens,” Mayes said on X on Monday.
Gov. Katie Hobbs also weighed in on the situation, stating that she would contact the federal government to seek answers about what happened. She called this situation “completely unacceptable.”
According to Arizona Public Media, Jose Hermosillo, 19, visited Arizona from New Mexico. He allegedly got lost around the Arizona-Mexico border and was arrested for illegally entering the country. Border Patrol arrested him near Nogales, which has a port of entry between the United States and Mexico.
The media outlet quoted Grace Leyva, the aunt of Hermosillo’s girlfriend, saying Hermosillo’s loved ones made multiple calls to find out where he was located, which was at the Florence Correctional Center. This center is located in Florence, Arizona.
Hermosillo’s family members, according to APM, drove to the center and presented paperwork proving Hermosillo’s birth certificate and Social Security card.
Leyva told AMP that law enforcement authorities did not believe Hermosillo when he claimed to be a U.S. citizen.
A judge dropped the case last Thursday, and Hermosillo got released the same day.
To clarify the information, Homeland Security posted details on X on Monday regarding Hermosillo’s interaction with Border Patrol.
The federal agency said Hermosillo, on April 8, approached Border Patrol in Tucson, saying he illegally came into America and “identified himself as a Mexican citizen.”
Homeland Security said he was processed lawfully, but his family came “days later” to present his American citizenship documents.
“Mr. Hermosillo’s arrest and detention were a direct result of his own actions and statements,” the agency said.
Moreover, Homeland Security released an affidavit on the situation. In this affidavit, Hermosillo is recorded as stating he is from Mexico and is a citizen of the country.
Furthermore, he said he did not have a claim to be an American citizen or the necessary documents to be legally present in the country, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit states that Hermosillo told law enforcement he planned to stay in America for 20 years.
In addition, he told Border Patrol that he was in America illegally, according to the affidavit.
