An illegal immigrant with a record of drug- and alcohol-related arrests and multiple deportations allegedly killed a 64-year-old Colorado grandfather named Scott Miller.
That is the first thing to get clear about this story: Another American has died in an incident involving a lawbreaker with no right to be in the United States.
According to KMGH-TV in Denver, Colorado, 47-year-old Ignacio Cruz-Mendoza lost control of his semi-truck on US 285 June 11, leading to an accident that resulted in Miller's death. Cruz-Mendoza now faces vehicular assault and vehicular homicide charges.
An ICE spokesperson confirmed that since April 2002 Cruz-Mendoza has a lengthy history with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, having been returned to Mexico at least 16 times. His most recent deportation occurred on May 29.
At a hearing on Tuesday morning, prosecutors from Jefferson County, Colorado, urged the judge not to reduce Cruz-Mendoza's $50,000 bail due to the suspect's repeated deportations, according to KCNC-TV.
The First Judicial District Attorney characterized Cruz-Mendoza as a flight risk. That sounds like an understatement.
The DA also said the man had a 2018 DUI case and a 2002 Oregon drug case. Wonderful.
NEW: Illegal alien involved in fatal Highway 285 crash in Colorado had been removed from US 16 times.
Ignacio Cruz-Mendoza from Mexico, deported 16 times from the United States, is accused of killing 64-year-old Scott Miller from Bailey, Colorado, in a vehicle crash.… pic.twitter.com/FmjNwR89wd
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) June 18, 2024
Colorado State Patrol cited excessive speed as a factor in the crash that killed Miller. Cruz-Mendoza's truck, owned by Monique Trucking, careened off the edge of the road and rolled onto its side, sending 47,000 pounds of steel pipes onto the highway, where they collided with five vehicles. The truck's brakes also failed the driver, who -- surprise -- did not have a commercial vehicle license, KCNC reported.
"He was just young," Miller's daughter Michelle said of her late father. "He was only 64. I just want everyone to know that my dad was fun. He was an awesome dad and was an awesome grandfather."
This tragic incident has a slightly different feel to it than other recent allegations against illegal immigrants \-- but only slightly.
On one hand, Cruz-Mendoza did not set out to hurt anyone. He did not kill a nursing student, for instance, or rape a 13-year-old girl in front of her classmate.
Furthermore, this is not a case of federal officials failing to do their job. Sixteen deportations at minimum suggest that ICE sent Cruz-Mendoza out of the country whenever agents encountered him.
On the other hand, the suspect first came to ICE's attention more than 22 years ago. We know that Cruz-Mendoza returned to Mexico on May 29. But we do not know -- at least, the ICE spokesperson did not say -- how many of Cruz-Mendoza's deportations and re-entries occurred since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
In any event, the peripatetic truck driver's strange odyssey highlights the relative ease with which illegal immigrants cross the border.
Likewise, Cruz-Mendoza's persistence suggests that he had no fear of consequences. He kept returning. And that might be the strongest indictment of the federal officials responsible for border security, including Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Then there is the matter of Monique Trucking. According to KCNC, the company that employed Cruz-Mendoza had five safety violations. Might that company's willingness (eagerness?) to hire a man desperate for work and thus cheap to employ have constituted its most egregious violation of all, especially when that man lacked a commercial vehicle license and could not work legally?
This will do nothing to quell suspicions that illegal immigration persists because employers want desperate workers and Democrats want voters.
Americans have noticed. In fact, an extraordinary number of non-white Americans, particularly Hispanic and young black voters, have abandoned Biden in favor of former President Donald Trump.
A Trump victory in the 2024 election will not protect anyone from accidents and the ordinary perils of existence. But it will ensure, at minimum, that lawbreakers like Cruz-Mendoza think twice before strolling back across the U.S. border.
After all, who knows how many ICE agents Trump might have waiting for them as he builds and extends his big, beautiful wall?
