4-Times-Removed Illegal Immigrant Arrested in Hit-and-Run Death of 11-Year-Old Boy

ICE has issued an immigration detainer for the suspect but does not expect it to be honored because of California’s sanctuary policies.

11-year-old Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz. Courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security

A criminal illegal immigrant, who was previously removed from the United States four times, has been arrested over a hit-and-run incident that killed an 11-year-old boy in California, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a Dec. 2 statement.

On Nov. 26, the boy, Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz, was attempting to retrieve a soccer ball outside his home when he was run over by the vehicle, the department said. The driver, Hector Balderas-Aheelor, a Mexican national, then allegedly sped off. Aiden died from his injuries on the following morning, which was Thanksgiving.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an immigration detainer for Balderas-Aheelor with the San Diego Sheriff’s Office.

Immigration detainers are ICE requests to federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies, such as prisons, to notify the requesting agency before releasing a removable immigrant or hold the person for up to 48 hours beyond the release time so that DHS can take custody.

Although ICE issued a detainer, the agency said it expects that it won’t be honored because California is a sanctuary state.

In sanctuary jurisdictions, local or state officials refuse to enforce federal immigration laws or cooperate with federal immigration authorities. According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) list, 12 states and 18 major local jurisdictions in the country follow sanctuary policies, including California.

“This list is not exhaustive and will be updated as federal authorities gather further information,” an Aug. 5 DOJ statement said.

DHS said in its Dec. 2 statement that despite California’s sanctuary laws, the department will continue with its efforts to remove criminals from the streets.

“Thanksgiving should be a day of celebrating family and giving gratitude, but instead the family of Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz mourned this beautiful child’s death because a criminal illegal alien stole his life. Now, sanctuary laws threaten to put this killer back onto California’s streets,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.

“Hector Balderas-Aheelor was previously removed FOUR times before he chose to commit a felony and illegally re-enter the country a fifth time. Gavin Newsom, we are calling on YOU to do the right thing and honor ICE’s arrest detainer.”

DHS did not say whether Balderas-Aheelor has been assigned legal representation.

In a Dec. 1 statement, DHS raised the issue of sanctuary policies’ interference with immigration enforcement activities in another state, New York.

New York has refused to honor ICE detainers, resulting in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal immigrants since Jan. 20, the department said. The crimes committed by these individuals include assaults, homicides, robberies, drug offenses, weapons offenses, and sexual predatory offenses.

“There are currently 7,113 aliens in the custody of a New York jurisdiction with an active detainer. The crimes of these aliens include 148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drugs offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses,” DHS said.

There have been other instances in which illegal immigrants have reentered the United States after removal and committed crimes.

On Nov. 18, DHS announced that it had launched an arrest detainer for a criminal illegal immigrant from Honduras who was facing charges of “cruelty toward a child and lewd or lascivious acts with a minor.”

The man was initially encountered by the Border Patrol in 2005 and deported the same year. He reentered the United States once more and was removed by the Trump administration in 2019. This was his third illegal entry into the United States.

The Epoch Times reached out to California Gov. Gavin Newsom for comment but did not receive a response.

Sanctuary Policy Lawsuits

The Trump administration has filed lawsuits against jurisdictions implementing sanctuary policies.

A lawsuit against Illinois was dismissed on July 25 by Judge Lindsay Jenkins of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, who said that even if the actions of state and local governments impeded federal law enforcement, they were not acting illegally because of the powers authorized to states under the 10th Amendment.

On Sept. 29, the DOJ sued Minnesota and state officials over the issue, alleging that the state, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and Hennepin County refused to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

In a statement at the time, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter criticized the Trump administration’s actions.

“City employees don’t work for the president, we work for the people who live here,” he said. “We will stand with our immigrant and refugee neighbors no matter how many unconstitutional claims the White House makes.”

Meanwhile, more than 527,000 illegal immigrants have been removed from the United States under the Trump administration, DHS said in an Oct. 27 statement.

More than 70 percent of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal immigrants charged or convicted of a crime in the United States, the department said.

“Rioters and sanctuary politicians have not deterred ICE or [Customs and Border Protection] in their mission to protect the homeland from those who have no right to be in America,” it said.

“Day-in and day-out, DHS law enforcement is removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from American communities.”