



A 19-year-old college student from Dalton, Georgia — mistakenly pulled over in a traffic stop — has been released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Ximena Arias-Cristobal’s immigration bond hearing was Wednesday. The judge granted a $1,500 bond. .
“The family will pay the bond ASAP and Ximena will be home with her family tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon at the latest,” her attorney, Dustin Baxter, said.
The hearing was originally set for Tuesday, but had to be rescheduled for Wednesday because of an outage at Stewart Detention Center in Columbus, Tennessee.
Baxter said he doesn’t expect Arias-Cristobal to be assigned another court date until 2026.
“The important thing is their case will no longer be on the rocket docket or the detained docket. We’re kind of got a few things in the pipeline,” he said. “We’re trying to develop ways that we can keep her here long term. We’ll see what happens.”
Arias-Cristobal said her time in ICE detention has been difficult, but she is thankful to God and her community for getting her through.
“I’m feeling super happy, joyful, excited, blessed. I’m really I’m really happy that everything’s coming out the way it is,” Arias-Cristobal said.
She said she felt the support from her communuty.
“I want to thank them so much. Without them, I feel none of this would have been possible, their support has helped me, not only personally, but it has helped my family as well, and I’m thankful for them, and may God bless all of them,” Arias-Cristobal said.
Her parents, José and Ndahitha, said they are overjoyed their daughter will be home.
Arias-Cristobal’s mother said “I’m just really happy that my daughter is coming home, I just want to hug her. (It’s been) 15 days without feeling her warmth, her skin and hear her voice, now I just need her home.”
Arias-Cristobal was arrested earlier this month after an officer said she turned right on a red light in front of a “no turn on red” sign.
But after review of dash cam footage, the Dalton city attorney said the officer had pulled over the wrong vehicle. Dalton Police dropped the traffic charges on May 12.
However, that traffic stop revealed Arias-Cristobal was driving without a license and was not a U.S. citizen. She was taken into ICE custody at the Stuart Detention Center. Her father recently bonded out of that same facility.
“We’ll continue to finish the transition so we can be in the country and continue working hard. She’s studying at her college and working hard to come out ahead,” Arias-Tovar said Wednesday.
Arias-Cristobal’s parents came to the Dalton area from Mexico City in 2010, when she was a toddler. When they came to the U.S., Arias-Cristobal was not eligible to register in the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program because it had ended.
A graduate of Dalton High School, Arias-Cristobal ran cross country. She was attending Dalton State College before her arrest.
A petition was also started asking a judge to grant Arias-Cristobal bond. It has more than 8,000 signatures.