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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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A family friend of a 19-year-old college student detained by ICE after a routine traffic stop in Dalton, Georgia, told Newsweek that conditions inside Stewart Detention Center (SDC) are a "nightmare."
Ximena Arias-Cristobal, who has lived in the United States since she was 4, is being detained at the CoreCivic-operated center.
"She said Stewart is a nightmare, it's overcrowded, everyone is crying all the time," friend Hannah Jones told Newsweek.
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Brian Todd, a spokesperson for CoreCivic, told Newsweek: "CoreCivic plays a limited but important role in America's immigration system, and we care deeply about treating people in our facilities humanely and providing them with a safe, clean and dignified environment as they prepare for the next steps in their immigration process."
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump's administration is moving forward with plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, fulfilling a key promise from his 2024 campaign. While Trump emphasized that the focus would be on people with serious criminal records, immigration authorities have detained numerous nonviolent undocumented immigrants.
The raids have sparked growing concerns about due process violations and racial profiling. The White House has defended the actions, saying that anyone residing in the U.S. without legal status is considered a "criminal."
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What To Know
Stewart Detention Center (SDC), which is about four hours from Dalton in Lumpkin, is one of the largest and most well-known immigration detention facilities in the U.S. It is operated by private prison company CoreCivic.
A report from the ACLU, which previously condemned the facility for poor conditions and due process violations, says that at least 10 people died there between 2017 and 2024.
"We take the death of any individual in our care very seriously. At the same time, it's worth noting that SDC is one of the largest immigration facilities in the country, caring for thousands of detainees each year," Todd said.
"Our company also wasn't always the health care provider in the referenced cases—in some facilities, ICE provides the health care."
On Monday, police stopped Arias-Cristobal at the intersection of Walnut Avenue and Thornton Avenue after she made an improper right turn, ignoring a "no turn on red" sign.
Officers asked for her driver's license, and she informed them she had an international license. Arias-Cristobal was taken into custody for driving without a valid license and allegedly not following traffic control signs.
Two weeks earlier, her father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, was stopped in Tunnel Hill for allegedly driving 6 miles per hour over the speed limit. He is being held at the same ICE detention facility.
Jones, a family friend, said Arias-Cristobal has been a babysitter for her family for several years.
"Her dad is also in Stewart. He has said that there's not enough blankets, that he has had to sleep on the floor. Stewart is terrible," Jones said.
CoreCivic said in a statement "that each detainee is provided clothing, toiletries kits and blankets, and everyone is offered a bed."
Now her family is speaking out to defend Arias-Cristobal and call attention to what they describe as a cruel and unjust situation.
Her 12-year-old sister appealed for her release in an interview with Newsweek.
"They're not criminals, and they're good people who came here to make a living for themselves," Aurora Arias-Cristobal said. "They came here for a better future, a bright future, and they came here to work and not to be criminals.
"And they're not a danger. They just came like a lot of people went to work and get money."
Arias-Cristobal's parents relocated from Mexico City to the Dalton area in 2010, when she was still a young child.
The Department of Homeland Security told Newsweek in a statement: "The family will be able to return to Mexico together."
According to her family, Arias-Cristobal was ineligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program because it was no longer accepting new applicants.
DACA recipients, often referred to as Dreamers, are people who were brought to the U.S. as children without legal authorization. The program shields them from ICE detention and deportation, though these protections can be rescinded by federal officials.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover legal expenses for Arias-Cristobal. It has raised $64,976 as of 10 a.m. EST on May 8.
Arias-Cristobal, who graduated from Dalton High School and competed in cross-country, is now a student at Dalton State College.
Dalton is a predominantly Republican area, but Jones noted that "everyone knows this is wrong."
"Even conservatives think that this is wrong, like especially for these young adults that came over as children," she said.
Republican state Representative Kacey Carpenter is urging an immigration judge to grant her release.
What People Are Saying
Brian Todd of Stewart Detention Center told Newsweek: "We take seriously our obligation to adhere to all applicable federal detention standards in our ICE-contracted facilities, including Stewart Detention Center. Our immigration facilities are monitored very closely by our government partners at ICE, and they are required to undergo regular review and audit processes to ensure an appropriate standard of living and care for all detainees.
"SDC is not over capacity—nor are we allowed to operate over capacity. Where there are opportunities to expand capacity at our facilities, these efforts are done in alignment and agreement with our government partners. We would never do anything that would diminish our priority of running safe, secure facilities or providing high-quality services to those in our care. Staffing is aligned to meet the needs of each facility.
"CoreCivic provides high-quality health care to every individual in our care. SDC's health services team follows both CoreCivic's standards for medical care and the standards set forth by ICE. The facility is also independently accredited by the American Correctional Association. SDC operates a main medical unit with a full, comprehensive medical team, and medical personnel are on-site 24/7 to provide high-quality care to any detainee who needs it."
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek: "Arias Tovar, a 43-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested for speeding and driving without a license. Arias Tovar self-admitted that he is in the country illegally. His daughter, Ximena Arias Cristobal, a 19-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested on May 5, 2025, by the Dalton Police Department for failing to obey a traffic light and driving without a license. She admitted to illegally entering the United States and has no pending applications with USCIS.
"The family will be able to return to Mexico together. Mr. Tovar had ample opportunity to seek a legal pathway to citizenship. He chose not to. We are not ignoring the rule of law.
"Through the CBP Home App—the Trump Administration is giving parents illegally in the country a chance to take full control of their departure and self-deport, with the potential ability to return the legal, right way and come back to live the American dream."
Family friend Hannah Jones told Newsweek: "We're all on an emotional roller coaster. We will get some good news and get some hope, and definitely, the community support has been very heartwarming, and we feel very grateful. But when the DHS statement last night, and we get back on severe anxiety, just anger, all the emotions."
Georgia Republican state Representative Kacey Carpenter told NewsChannel 9: "The reality is, the conversation has always been that we need to get hard criminals out of the country.
"Unfortunately, the people that aren't hard criminals are getting caught up in the wash. It seems like we are much better at catching people that are committing misdemeanors than people that are actually a danger to society."
What Happens Next
The family said it will continue to fight for Arias-Cristobal's release.
Update, 5/9/25, 12:27 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from CoreCivic spokesperson Brian Todd.
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