U.S. citizen Jose Hermosillo was detained by ICE for 10 days.
On Friday, AZPM broke the story about a 19-year-old U.S. citizen who immigration officials detained for 10 days, saying he was in the country illegally.
In response to the story, the Department of Homeland Security posted on X an affidavit, signed with a rudimentary signature, and said that on April 8, Jose Hermosillo approached Border Patrol in Tucson, Arizona, stating he had illegally entered the U.S. and identified himself as a Mexican citizen and that border enforcement processed him lawfully.
Separate court documents say a Border Patrol agent arrested Hermosillo “at or near Nogales, Arizona, without proper immigration documents” and that Hermosillo admitted to illegally entering the U.S.
Nogales is more than an hour south of Tucson, and Hermosillo says he’s never been there.
Hermosillo and his girlfriend, who have a 9-month-old child together, live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and were visiting family in Tucson.
Hermosillo’s girlfriend, Grace Hernandez, says he has learning disabilities and is illiterate.
“If he did sign it, he doesn't know how to read, or nothing. He doesn't know how to read. He doesn't really understand. He says yes to everything. So he could, he could have done it without knowing what it was.”
Contradicting the government affidavit, he says he told officials both when he was getting arrested and while he was detained that he is a U.S. citizen.
“I told them I was a US citizen, but they don't listen to me.”
Court text filed on April 10, seven days before his release, says he claims to be a U.S. citizen.
The family later provided officials with his birth certificate and Social Security card showing he is a U.S. citizen. On April 17, a magistrate judge in Tucson dismissed his case.
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