College student detained by ICE after mistaken stop should self-deport: DHS

Despite the charges against a Georgia college student being dropped in the wake of her mistaken traffic arrest, the Department of Homeland Security is committed to ordering Ximena Arias-Cristobal and her father to "self-deport," the agency said in a statement.

Arias-Cristobal, 19, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being mistakenly stopped for a traffic infraction she did not commit. Ximena Arias-Cristobal, 19, was arrested on May 5 in Dalton, Georgia, when her dark gray truck was mistaken for a black pickup that made an illegal turn. Those citations were dropped on Monday once officials realized there was a mix-up, Dalton Assistant Police Chief Chris Crossen said.

However, Arias-Cristobal remains in ICE custody at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, ICE records show. Arias-Cristobal's father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, was separately detained by police -- and later ICE -- two weeks before his daughter for speeding and driving without a license, according to DHS.

She "admitted to illegally entering the United States and has no pending applications with USCIS," the DHS said late Tuesday in a post on X.

"The facts haven't changed. Both father and daughter were in this country illegally and they have to face the consequences," the department said in the post. "The United States is offering aliens like this father and daughter $1,000 apiece and a free flight to self-deport now."

"We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream," the department added in the post. "If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return."

The teen came to the U.S. with her parents when she was 4 years old and is ineligible for relief from deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which temporarily protects some migrants from deportation if they were brought to the country as children, an attorney for Arias-Cristobal told ABC News.

Arias-Cristobal was not eligible to register for the DACA program because it was ended before she became eligible to apply at 16 years old.

"The family will be able to return to Mexico together," DHS said. "Mr. Tovar had ample opportunity to seek a legal pathway to citizenship. He chose not to. We are not ignoring the rule of law."

Ndahitha Cristobal, Arias-Cristobal's mother, said Arias-Tovar was getting materials to work on a house for a client when police stopped him. He was arrested for driving 19 mph above the speed limit, Cristobal told Chattanooga, Tennessee, ABC affiliate WTVC.

Before her arrest, Arias-Cristobal was helping her mother, who is a housekeeper, with cleaning in order to make ends meet. Arias-Cristobal is also a student at Dalton State College.

"Now that they took her away, it's just her," Ximena's younger sister, Aurora, told WTVC.

"It has been hard," Aurora said, breaking down in tears. "My mother, I've been helping her out because she doesn't know English and it's just a lot of weight on us."