‘It seems to be almost a daily occurrence’: DHS official is using car crashes to double down on migrant crackdowns

To take advantage of multiple fatal car crashes involving illegal immigrants across the country, a Department of Homeland Security official has focused on just that fact. According to the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at DHS, Tricia McLaughlin, “It seems to be almost a daily occurrence where an illegal alien driving kills an innocent American. All of these deaths are preventable because these illegal aliens should have never been in our country.”

According to Fox News, in Louisiana, a 15-year-old boy on a bicycle was struck and killed by a vehicle allegedly driven by Juan Alfredo Chavarria Lezama, a 31-year-old illegal immigrant. The crash, which occurred in Livingston Parish, resulted in the teenager being airlifted to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Chavarria Lezama faces multiple charges, including vehicular homicide and driving while intoxicated and without a license. Authorities noted that he was also the subject of a detainer request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The state of Maine has also seen two separate fatal crashes linked to illegal immigrants. In Lewiston, a 31-year-old man identified as Lionel Francisco is accused of driving his vehicle onto a curb, where he hit and fatally injured a woman from Massachusetts. Francisco, who was driving with only a learner’s permit, remained at the scene and cooperated with police. However, he was found to be from Angola and subject to an ICE detainer, as his tourist visa had expired in late July.

Trump is using car crashes to go after immigrants

In a separate incident on August 16 in New Gloucester, another illegal immigrant from Angola, Mukendi Mbiya, is accused of causing the death of a 64-year-old female pedestrian. Mbiya had arrived in the U.S. on a tourist visa in December 2018, but it expired in June 2019, and he had remained in the country unlawfully.

Further south, in Florida, an individual identified as Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, is accused of causing a crash that resulted in three deaths. The incident, which took place near Port St. Lucie, occurred after Singh allegedly made an illegal U-turn. Records from transportation officials show that Singh had difficulty understanding traffic laws, failing to recognize most highway signs and only correctly answering two out of 12 questions on an English proficiency test.

In Wisconsin, a deadly wrong-way collision in late July led to the arrest of Noelia Saray Martinez Avila, 30. Martinez Avila is accused of crashing into a vehicle carrying two high school sweethearts, killing them both near Madison. A Wisconsin Public Radio report on the incident noted that she had a prior conviction for drunken driving in 2020.

Car crashes are pretty common and not limited to illegal immigrants, but Trump is trying anything to get more support for using ICE to get anyone who looks like an immigrant, not just immigrants. Going after the latino community seems to be high on Trump’s list, and he’ll point out whatever he can to do it.