The detention of a Mexican citizen with a tourist visa in Arizona has generated conflicting accounts. This is Edwar Omar Mezquita Gonzalez, a 27-year-old from Puerto Penasco, Sonora, who was arrested by ICE agents while visiting his family in the Valley. Relatives told the Phoenix New Times that Gonzalez entered the United States legally with a valid tourist visa, as he does every year during the holidays. "He has his brother, his brother's wife. He has nieces, cousins," said Samantha Cooley, a relative of Gonzalez and an advocate for immigrant rights. Why was the Mexican man with a tourist visa arrested? According to family testimony, on Tuesday, December 9, Gonzalez and his brother were driving through San Tan Valley in Pinal County after going out for coffee. They were traveling in a white GMC Sierra pickup truck, owned by the older brother, which is used for both professional and personal activities, such as picking up his children.

During that trip, they were followed and stopped by a Pinal County Sheriff's deputy for alleged traffic violations, including partially obscured license plates and tinted windows, near Gantzel and Bella Vista highways.

During the stop, Gonzalez's brother, a legal permanent resident, presented his Green Card. Edward, for his part, showed his tourist visa. It was then, according to the family, that an HSI agent approached and checked their immigration documents.

“They said that, since he was in a work truck, he was working and that's why they had to stop him,” Cooley recounted, insisting that neither of them was working at that moment.

This version contrasts with other reports that indicate the arrest may have occurred after Gonzalez recorded an immigration operation, adding to the confusion about the exact reason for the detention.

Transfer to ICE and Release Without Documents

After his arrest, Gonzalez was transferred to the ICE office in Phoenix, where he remained in custody for almost three days, awaiting possible deportation. He was finally released on the night of December 11, although without his personal documents.

According to Samantha Cooley, the young man left without his visa, his Mexican driver's license, or his I-94 form.

These documents were later returned to her by the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix.

The Mexican Consul General in Phoenix, Jorge Mendoza Yescas, confirmed to Univision Arizona that it was the consulate that provided support so that Gonzalez could be released from ICE custody.

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