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EXCLUSIVE: An illegal immigrant from Colombia killed a motorist in Southern California last month during a police chase, authorities said.
Darwin Felipe Bahamon Martinez, 21, was caught entering the United States near San Diego in 2023 and released by the Biden administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.
“Bahamon Martinez illegally entered the U.S. near Chula Vista, California, in August 2023,” a statement from ICE Los Angeles field office leadership said.
“He was released into the U.S. under the Biden administration’s so-called ‘catch-and-release’ policies, but if that hadn’t happened, the innocent 59-year-old driver he allegedly killed may still be alive today.”
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Martinez was driving a Jeep Gladiator in Anaheim Jan. 21 when police officers initiated a traffic stop for reckless driving. When the officers approached the Jeep on foot, Martinez sped away, authorities said.
A brief chase ensued before the Jeep collided with a Honda driven by a 59-year-old man in the neighboring city of Placentia.
The driver was pronounced dead at the crash site.
Another driver, an 83-year-old woman, was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries.
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Bahamon Martinez is being held in the Orange County Jail while awaiting criminal proceedings on his homicide charge. ICE lodged an immigration detainer against him Jan. 22.
However, because of California’s sanctuary state laws, local authorities are not compelled to cooperate with ICE to transfer illegal immigrants charged or convicted of crimes into federal custody.
“If local officials in Gavin Newsom’s sanctuary California choose to release Bahamon Martinez into the community, they will put ALL Californians at risk,” ICE said in a news release. “California must honor our immigration detainer. Otherwise, ICE will be forced to re-arrest this criminal illegal alien at-large.”
In jurisdictions with sanctuary laws, ICE officers typically have to go into communities to look for illegal immigrants targeted for deportation. The agency has called for greater cooperation with local authorities amid confrontations between federal officers and agitators in Minnesota, where local officials have accused ICE of terrorizing neighborhoods.
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Critics of sanctuary laws say such laws are responsible for releasing dangerous criminals back onto the street.
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