Congressman Gonzalez Statement on Detention and Release of U.S. Citizen at Federal Border Detention Facility and Future Detention of Any U.S. Citizens

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) issued a statement in response to the detention and release of Francisco Erwin Galicia, a Dallas-born U.S. citizen, by U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. He also issued a call for any U.S. citizen who is detained by federal agents to contact their U.S. Congressman or U.S. Senators.

"It is impermissible for an agent of CBP or ICE to detain a United States citizen who has a valid Texas driver's license," said Congressman Gonzalez. "Our federal agencies need to implement consistent standards for verifying immigration status to prevent anything like this from happening again. Additionally, I urge every U.S. citizen, should they ever be wrongfully detained by a federal agency in this country and questioned about their citizenship, to immediately contact their U.S. Congressman or U.S. Senator so the matter can be addressed and investigated."

Francisco Erwin Galicia spent more than three weeks in a federal detention center despite presenting concrete evidence of citizenship to federal immigration agents.