An illegal migrant who was arrested for allegedly stealing a woman’s vehicle and then killing her with it in northern Virginia on Sunday was given a driver’s license by the state of California.
Jose Aguilar-Martinez is suspected of stealing a vehicle belonging to Melody Waldecker, a 54-year-old grandmother to eight, as she stepped into a local 7-Eleven in Sterling, Virginia, ultimately running her over and killing her when she attempted to stop the crime, according to NBC4. Aguilar-Martinez is a Salvadoran national with no fixed address but was able to obtain a California driver’s license before his alleged involvement in the fatal carjacking incident, according to a press release by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
“This is a horrific tragedy, and we mourn the death of Melody Waldecker as the result of the heinous actions by a suspect in our nation illegally,” Sheriff Mike Chapman said in a statement Wednesday. “This is another reminder of why it is essential that localities collaborate with our federal counterparts charged with enforcing U.S. immigration laws.”
The Salvadoran national was arraigned on the carjacking charge on Tuesday, and Loudoun County Commonwealth’s attorney is expected to file more charges, according to the sheriff’s office. He remains in the county’s custody under no bond.
Aguilar-Martinez unlawfully entered the U.S. on an unknown date and unknown location, ICE confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The agency lodged an immigration detainer for the 21-year-old Salvadoran national on Monday with the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center, requesting they eventually transfer custody of him to their deportation officers.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office emphasized on Wednesday that it cooperates with federal immigration authorities “as a matter of practice,” nearly ensuring that their office will honor the detainer request on Aguilar-Martinez. Since fiscal year 2023 to date, ICE issued 479 detainers for noncitizens arrested in Loudoun County for criminal offenses, resulting in the deportation of nearly 100 of them, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
California has offered driver’s licenses to illegal migrants since January 2015, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A total of 19 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws that allow noncitizens living in the country unlawfully to obtain driver’s licenses.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom doubled down on the state’s policy by signing AB 1766, referred to as the “CA ID for All” bill, into law in 2022 that allows illegal migrants who are not drivers to obtain identification cards.
Providing licenses to illegal migrants remains a controversial issue. When New York State’s “Green Light Law” went into effect in 2019, allowing illegal migrants to obtain driver’s licenses, numerous county clerks said they would refuse to comply, citing safety concerns.
Then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf ordered the Department of Homeland Security in 2020 to conduct a large-scale review of state laws that allow migrants to obtain licenses.
“Laws like New York’s greenlight law have dangerous consequences that have far reaches beyond the DMV,” a DHS spokesperson said at the time of Wolf’s order. “These types of laws make it easier for terrorists and criminals to obtain fraudulent documents and also prevent DHS investigators from accessing important records that help take down child pornography and human trafficking rings and combat everything from terrorism to drug smuggling.”
The California governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
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