An Escondido boy is dead. Why did Trump officials bait Gov. Newsom?
An Escondido family continues to mourn the death of 11-year-old Aidan Antonio Torres De Paz, who was killed in a hit-and-run in front of his home. The suspected driver, Hector Amador Balderas, is an immigrant who allegedly crossed into the country illegally.
And in the days since Balderas’ arrest, his case has developed into yet another flashpoint between President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom, one that raises questions about custody, responsibility, justice and politics.
ICE’s detainer request
The boy was playing with a soccer ball Nov. 26 when he was run down, leaving him critically injured. Police announced Aidan’s death two days later, and arrested Balderas, 44, also of Escondido, the next day.
The suspect on Wednesday entered a not guilty plea to a felony hit-and-run charge. His bail, initially $100,000, was increased to $300,000 at the court hearing.
But the case had taken a turn on Tuesday, when the Department of Homeland Security announced that Balderas, a Mexican national, had crossed the border illegally and been deported four times. After his fifth illegal crossing, he is accused of killing Aidan.
DHS did not offer a timeline for the immigration actions, why the suspect had been deported or how much of his time in the U.S. has been spent in San Diego County. The department also did not answer an email requesting more information on Balderas’ immigration history.
But the agency did say in its statement that it had “lodged an immigration detainer with the San Diego (County) Sheriff’s Office.”
What is a detainer? The request allows DHS, through ICE, to place what is in effect a hold when a person is subject to release from law enforcement custody. Federal officials ask the local agency to notify them so ICE can pick the person up before he or she returns to the streets.
According to the Sheriff’s office, ICE did so on Nov. 29. After a review of Balderas’ criminal history, “the Immigration Detainer was rejected,” Sheriff’s officials said in a Wednesday statement, pointing to a 2017 law that limits local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The DHS statement, offered in advance of that rejection, said “ICE anticipates the detainer will not be honored,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin directed her ire over that anticipated rejection at Newsom, not at Sheriff Kelly Martinez.
McLaughlin addressed the governor, saying that DHS was “calling on YOU to do the right thing and honor ICE’s arrest detainer.”
The Sheriff’s office, though, said it “does not hold individuals based on federal detainer warrants,” whether in Balderas’ case or any other. The agency will not transfer an individual to immigration authorities “unless authorized by a judicial warrant or based upon a qualifying conviction as per state law.”
Detainers are directly addressed in the response by the Sheriff’s office to Senate Bill 54, often referred to as the “sanctuary state” law. Officials published SB 54 updates to its policies and procedures in September 2018, and further fine-tuned them a year later in a document that is available to the public on SDSO’s website.
Legal experts said in cases like this, criminal law takes precedence over immigration actions.
“ICE can’t forcibly take a person out of state custody for purposes of deportation,” said Gabriel “Jack” Chin, a professor at UC Davis’ School of Law.
Deporting Balderas now would leave the hit-and-run case open, and the man accused of the crime free to cross the border for a sixth time.
A spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office declined to comment “on this pending criminal case.”
‘Word games’
DHS continued the dispute Wednesday, when officials posted on X that “Governor Newsom is REFUSING to honor the ICE detainer for an illegal alien who killed an 11-year-old boy,” before asking, “When will Governor Newsom stop releasing criminals into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk?”
In another tweet, DHS called Balderas a murderer and accused him of being a “violent criminal” who “California will let … roam free.” Newsom, the tweet said, was playing “word games.”
In reality, both sides are.
Balderas is accused not of murder, but of hit-and-run, which is not classified as a violent crime by the FBI in its annual compilation of criminal activity in the U.S. And his bail, at $300,000, is high, leaving it unlikely that he will “roam free.” As the Sheriff’s office noted, to comply with SB 54, local law enforcement won’t turn over a suspect to federal officials without a conviction or warrant.
Benjamin Gonzalez-O’Brien, a San Diego State University political science professor, said DHS regards the boy’s death as a chance to again attack sanctuary statutes.
“If undocumented immigrants are seen as violent criminals then the public may see these tactics as justified,” he said.
Newsom’s press office called the DHS allegations “a complete lie.”
“As we have repeatedly said: The state coordinates with ICE on the deportation of convicted criminals. California honors federal criminal warrants. Nothing prohibits the federal government from doing its job in this case.”
Yet SB 54 clearly offers roadblocks. Once the Balderas case comes to a conclusion, the federal government, as Newsom said, can pursue deportation proceedings. But that could be months or years away, clearly outside of DHS’s desired timeline.
What’s next?
According to online court records, as of Saturday, Balderas has not posted bond and remains in jail in Otay Mesa. He is due back in court Friday.
Meanwhile, an online fundraiser for the Torres De Paz family has raised more than $22,000. It is called “Justice for Aidan.”
Source – Indonesia News
