DHS Says ICE Officers Were Half a Mile Away in Fatal Michigan Crash

Federal immigration officers were roughly half a mile from the scene when a man crashed a car at high speed and died in Grand Rapids, Michigan, last weekend, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday.

The statement from the department appeared aimed at pushing back on any suggestion that its officers had been aggressively chasing the vehicle before Sunday's crash. The death of Mario Coronado Juarez, a native of Guatemala, has drawn anger from friends and immigrant rights advocates, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer has asked Michigan State Police to look into the incident.

According to Homeland Security, Juarez was not the specific target of the officers. He was driving a car registered to another Guatemalan national who was also in the United States without legal status and who was wanted in his home country, the department said.

In its account, officers tried to stop the vehicle to confirm who was behind the wheel, and the driver sped away. The agency said the officers ended the enforcement action immediately, citing public safety.

A short time later, the department said, officers spotted smoke about half a mile from where they had attempted the stop and found the car had struck a tree and caught fire. Officers tried to assist Juarez and extinguish the flames before Grand Rapids first responders reached the scene, according to the department. Juarez, who was in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the site.

Gema Lowe, an immigrant rights activist, said Juarez had been supporting a wife and three children by working construction in Grand Rapids and was saving money to build a home for them in Guatemala, where they live. At a gathering outside city hall on Tuesday, Lowe led a chant of his name and said he had died because of what she described as ICE's harsh pursuit of immigrant workers.