HOUSTON (AP) – An 18-year-old who was born in Dallas has been released from immigration custody after wrongfully being detained for more than three weeks.
Francisco Erwin Galicia left a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Pearsall, Texas, on Tuesday. His lawyer, Claudia Galan, confirmed he had been released, hours after The Dallas Morning News first reported about his case.
Galan says Galicia lives in the border city of Edinburg and was traveling north with friends when they were stopped at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint. According to Galan and the Morning News, agents apprehended Galicia on suspicion that he was in the U.S. illegally even though he had a Texas state ID.
The Border Patrol detained Galicia for three weeks before transferring him to the ICE detention center. ICE and the Border Patrol haven’t responded to requests for comment.
