Fatal hit-and-runs, DUI crashes by illegal immigrants keep piling up in Newsom’s California

by Deported.news Staff | December 06, 2025

Two more children have died at the hands of illegal immigrant drivers in California, while Gov. Gavin Newsom continues to deflect as to why these drivers are out on the roads.

Hector Balderas-Aheelor, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico who had been deported four times, was arrested Nov. 29 for a felony hit-and-run that killed an 11-year-old boy in Escondido, Calif.

On Wednesday, Nov. 26, the victim, Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz was playing in his yard and attempted to retrieve a soccer ball outside of his home, when he was hit by a driver who fled the scene. De Paz died from his injuries the following day on Thanksgiving morning.

“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,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a press release issued Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In a separate case just days later, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, Bryan Josue Alva-Rodriguez, 25, was charged in connection with a deadly head-on collision that killed an 8-year-old California girl on Sunday, Nov. 30, Fox News Digital reported.

Alva-Rodriguez was previously charged with DUIs and had an outstanding 2023 deportation. He was arraigned in the hospital on Wednesday, Dec. 3 on murder, vehicular manslaughter and DUI charges, according to California Highway Patrol.

The girl, identified in court records as “Aria T,” died as a result of the crash. Two adults and two other small children in the car were also taken to the hospital with what CHP described as “major injuries.”

They were riding in a Toyota Camry on the two-lane county Highway S-2 near San Diego when Alva-Rodriguez’s 2005 Toyota Tacoma crossed the center line and crashed head-on into the Camry, CHP said.

“Now an innocent life has been lost in a tragedy that could have been prevented,” the San Diego office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote on X. “An immigration detainer will be placed on Alva as soon as he is formally charged.”

Alva-Rodriguez illegally entered the United States on Feb. 8, 2018, and was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Calexico, California. He was issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge and released, ICE said.

While in immigration proceedings, he was charged with two DUIs on Sept. 6, 2020, and April 7, 2021, according to the agency. On March 16, 2023, an immigration judge ordered him deported.

ICE San Diego highlighted both cases on social media this week, calling out the fact that Balderas-Aheelor was “previously removed FOUR times before he illegally re-entered the country and killed an 11-year-old boy in a hit-and-run.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged an immigration detainer for Balderas-Aheelor with the San Diego Sheriff’s Office, which set off a war of words between DHS officials and Newsom’s Governor Newsom Press Office account on X.

In the news release, DHS said “Police apprehended Hector Balderas-Aheelor and ICE issued an arrest detainer. Unfortunately, because California is a sanctuary state, ICE anticipates the detainer will not be honored.”

Escondido police officers arrested Balderas-Aheelor on Saturday, Nov. 29 in connection with the hit-and-run. The vehicle involved in the crash was also recovered, according to police.

NBC 7 News in San Diego identified the man as Hector Amador Balderas, 44, and he pleaded not guilty pleaded on Wednesday, Dec. 3 to a felony count of hit-and-run causing death.

Witnesses said the child went into the street to retrieve a soccer ball when he was hit about 5 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving. He was rushed to Rady Children’s Hospital but died on Thanksgiving morning, police said.

According to local police reports, the driver fled the scene. An Escondido Police Department statement indicated tips from the public aided in Balderas-Aheelor’s arrest.

He was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on Nov. 29 on $100,000 bail, but his bail was increased during his Wednesday afternoon arraignment to $300,000. He faces up to four years in state prison if convicted, NBC 7 San Diego reported.

On Wednesday, DHS posted that “Governor Newsom is REFUSING to honor the ICE detainer for an illegal alien who killed an 11-year-old boy.” DHS officials added: “When will Governor Newsom stop releasing criminals into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk?”

Newsom’s Press Office account then responded: “This is 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.”

That prompted another reply from DHS, with a copy of the ICE detainer stamped rejected.

“You’re playing word games to keep an illegal alien murderer in America. California REJECTED the ICE detainer for an illegal alien charged with killing an 11-year-old boy,” DHS wrote. “Gavin Newsom says he’ll only cooperate with ICE if the criminal illegal alien is CONVICTED, meaning California will let him roam free even though he’s been arrested for FELONY hit-and-run.”

According to DHS and a Fox News report, Balderas-Aheelor was previously deported out of the United States four times. He was removed three times in 2004 and again in 2010, which is the date of his last mugshot.

NBC 7 San Diego shared a statement released Wednesday from San Diego Sheriff’s Office regarding the detainer request:

“The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office complies with the California Values Act (SB 54). To learn more about how the Sheriff’s Office complies with SB 54, visit: https://www.sdsheriff.gov/resources/open-data/immigration-sb-54.

On November 29, 2025, a Department of Homeland Security – Immigration Detainer – Notice of Action (DHS Form I-247-A) was received for Hector Balderas-Aheelor (aka: Hector Amador Balderas). In accordance with California Government Code 7282.5, a review of the criminal history was conducted, and the Immigration Detainer was rejected.”

While Newsom continues to double down on protecting illegal aliens in his state, the fatal hit-and-run accidents by illegal immigrants keep piling up in California.

On Oct. 10, a 14-year-old Southern California high school student was struck by an alleged drunk driver while riding his bicycle and died two weeks later in the hospital.

Jose Abelardo Villegas-Orbe, 47, an illegal Mexican national, was charged with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI hit-and-run causing death plus a probation violation following the crash.

Villegas-Orbe, of Palm Springs, Calif., had two previous DUI arrests in California, but there was no effort made to deport Villegas-Orbe after the arrests. He remained in the country due to the Biden administration’s lenient immigration policies.

On Oct. 21, Jashanpreet Singh, 21, was driving an 18-wheeler under the influence of drugs when he plowed into slow-moving traffic on Interstate 10 in Ontario, Calif., and killed three people and injured several others. The Indian national crossed the southern border in 2022 and was released by the Biden administration.

On Nov. 7, Orange County police arrested Humberto Munoz Gatica, a Mexican illegal alien, for driving drunk and killing a 71-year-old man who was walking in Dana Point, Calif., when he was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene.

Gatica, 57, of Laguna Niguel, faces charges of DUI causing death or bodily injury and hit-and-run causing death or bodily injury. He had an active deportation order since 2012, and he pleaded guilty to grand theft in 2011. He was released under the Obama administration with a notice to appear in court but never did.

DHS said federal law enforcement is committed to protecting American communities and families from another senseless tragedy like this taking place in another town, to another family.

“Despite California’s sanctuary laws, DHS will continue their efforts to remove murderers, pedophiles, and violent criminals from our streets,” DHS said in the news release. “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS is no longer allowing Americans to be used as collateral damage for failed border policies.”

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