Michigan Democrats are blindly pouncing on a claim that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement killed an illegal alien in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Sept. 20.
U.S. Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) posted on social media claiming that ICE pursued Mario David Coronado Juarez, which caused a fatal crash.
ICE killed another man. His name is Mario David Coronado Juarez.
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) September 24, 2026
Mario lived and worked in Michigan for 7 years as a construction worker, sending money home to his kids in Guatemala.
ICE pursued him in an unmarked car, causing a fatal car crash.
These killings have to stop.… pic.twitter.com/ZqoTY4gWiP
The Department of Homeland Security rejected that claim.
DHS says that ICE officers attempted to stop a vehicle registered to a known criminal illegal alien who had multiple alcohol-related driving offenses.
Juarez, an illegal alien from Guatemala, fled the traffic stop at speeds over 100 miles per hour, DHS said, so ICE officers stopped pursuing him. Juarez later fatally crashed the vehicle into a tree.
"As officers attempted the stop to confirm the identity of the driver, the driver of the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed. In the interest of public safety, ICE officers immediately discontinued the enforcement action. A short time later, officers saw smoke nearly half a mile from the attempted stop and discovered the vehicle had crashed into a tree and caught fire. Officers immediately attempted to render aid and extinguish the fire until the Grand Rapids Police Department and Fire Department arrived. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene by local officials. Officials also estimated that the suspect’s vehicle was traveling well over 100 miles per hour when the crash occurred."
Juarez was previously removed by Border Patrol in 2021 but illegally re-entered the U.S. afterward.
On September 20, ICE officers attempted a stop of a vehicle registered to a known criminal illegal alien with multiple alcohol related driving offenses who is also wanted in Guatemala for a drunk and disorderly charge, during a targeted enforcement operation in Grand Rapids,… https://t.co/l0GJ30X477
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 24, 2026
Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand blamed President Donald Trump's administration for the illegal alien's death.
"The reality is we cannot keep federal agencies out of our city, however they act," LaGrand said. "But let me be clear: No law enforcement entity that traffics in fear is welcome here. ICE's national pattern of intimidation, harassment, and killing has to stop."
WATCH: Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand makes a public statement following the death of Mario David Coronado Juarez who died in a vehicle crash while fleeing ICE agents.
— Grand Rapids Businessman (@GR_businessman) September 25, 2026
LaGrand adjourned a city commission meeting this week as protestors shouted, “ICE and cops go hand in hand,… pic.twitter.com/nJPwFpGZnU
The Department of Homeland Security will pay illegal aliens who self-deport $2,600.
A Guatemalan man who was killed in a car crash in Grand Rapids, Michigan after fleeing ICE was not the person who federal agents were looking to arrest, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 25, 2026
Mario David Coronado Juárez died Sunday after he fled ICE agents and drove… pic.twitter.com/GYF5lTfbEd
