Over three weeks ago, Customs and Border Patrol agents arrested an 18-year-old American citizen who was born in Texas, and he was held under the custody of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency until Tuesday.
Francisco Erwin Galicia was traveling with his younger brother from their hometown of Edinburg, Texas up north to the city of Ranger when they reached a CBP checkpoint, their mother told the Dallas Morning News.
Although Galicia, who was born in Dallas, provided the agents with a Texas ID, officers arrested him and his brother (who is undocumented) anyway.
After spending three weeks in CBP custody without access to a phone, Galicia was transferred to an ICE facility on Saturday. He was finally released on Tuesday afternoon, according to his mother.
Claudia Galan, Galicia’s lawyer, told the Morning News she tried to show Galicia’s birth certificate to CBP agents last week, but he remained in custody regardless.
Galicia’s brother, Marlon, signed a voluntary deportation form after being detained for two days because he wanted to be able to talk to his family.
2020 candidate Beto O’Rourke, who served as a Texas congressman, applauded Galicia’s release as “good news” but pointed out that the incident never should’ve happened at all.
This is good news. But Francisco should never have been in custody in the first place—let alone for three weeks. We must demand accountability and we must demand justice. https://t.co/6kDSrxJb3e
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) July 23, 2019
Galan and CBP did not respond to TPM’s request for comment at the time of publishing.
