California Governor Gavin Newsom, known for his support of the state’s sanctuary policy, faces criticism for allegedly shielding an undocumented immigrant connected to the tragic death of 11-year-old Aiden Antonio Torres de Paz just before Thanksgiving.
Reports indicate that Hector Balderas-Aherol, a Mexican national living illegally in the U.S., was arrested by police in Escondido and charged with felony hit-and-run resulting in death.
According to police, Aiden was playing in his front yard when a soccer ball rolled into the street. While attempting to retrieve it, he was struck by Balderas-Aherol, who then drove off, leaving the child to die.
Sadly, Aiden passed away from his injuries on Thanksgiving Day.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are urging Newsom’s office to permit local law enforcement in Escondido to collaborate with ICE. They want to ensure that if Balderas-Aherol is released before his sentencing, federal agents can take him into custody rather than allowing him to return to the community.
In response, Newsom’s office dismissed claims that they had blocked ICE from detaining Balderas-Aherol, asserting that “California respects federal criminal warrants.”
“This is completely false,” stated Newsom’s office, refuting a claim that California had refused to accept ICE detainees. “As we have said repeatedly, the state works with ICE on the deportation of convicted criminals. California respects federal criminal warrants. There is nothing preventing the federal government from doing its job in this situation.”
DHS officials countered by releasing a list of individuals whose ICE detainer requests had been rejected.
“You are playing with words to keep illegal alien killers in America. California has denied ICE detainment of an illegal alien accused of murdering an 11-year-old boy,” they responded.
The DHS post indicated that, “Gavin Newsom claims he will only cooperate with ICE if an illegal alien is convicted, which means California would allow him to remain free despite being charged with a felony hit-and-run.”
Breitbart News pointed out that sanctuary jurisdictions often maintain they will collaborate with ICE only when agents possess a judicial warrant for illegal immigrants. However, former immigration judge Andrew Arthur noted that such warrants are neither required by law nor typically issued in practice.
“The reality is, though, that judicial warrants to detain aliens do not currently exist, never have existed in the immigration context, and likely never will,” Arthur remarked in 2019, challenging these assertions. “It’s time to remove the fig leaves.”
