Hit-and-Run, Homicide, Assault, Robbery: Congress Probes Effects of California Sanctuary Policies

Pointing to rising crime rates and a crash that killed an 11-year-old boy last December, leaders of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday asked law enforcement leaders in two major California cities to provide information on sanctuary policies they say shield criminal illegal aliens.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and two subcommittee chairmen—Republican Reps. Tom McClintock and Darrell Issa of California—signed letters to the police chiefs and sheriffs of San Diego and San Francisco.

“California’s pro-illegal alien policies shield criminals from accountability. In late November 2025, an illegal alien from Mexico hit and killed 11-year-old Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz as the child ‘was playing with another child and chasing his soccer ball at the end of a residential street outside his home,’” says the letter to San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez, quoting a news account.

In December, Hector Amador Balderas, 44, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, reportedly pleaded guilty to felony hit-and-run leading to De Paz’s death in Escondido, Calif., outside San Diego. Balderas was previously removed from the United States four times, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

NEW: Chairmen @Jim_Jordan, @RepMcClintock, and @RepDarrellIssa sent letters to officials in sanctuary state California demanding information on their dangerous polices.

Protect Americans. Arrest and deport criminal aliens.

It should be simple, but Democrat-run California… pic.twitter.com/TjqSAvXw9h

— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) June 2, 2026

Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer, which under federal law required the sheriff to hold him for 48 hours, lawmakers said. However, that detainer clashes with California’s sanctuary law.

“After the illegal alien’s arrest, ICE lodged a detainer against him, which your office, citing California law, rejected,” the letter says.

In 2025, California’s sanctuary policies led San Diego law enforcement to reject an ICE detainer for an illegal alien arrested for willful cruelty to a child, assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and battery on an ex-spouse, ICE noted in a February press release.

Last year, California’s refusal to honor detainers allowed the release of 4,561 criminal illegal aliens with charges that included homicide, robbery, and assault, according to ICE.

The letter to Martinez notes a 2024 ordinance passed by the San Diego Board of Supervisors that prohibits county law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement and gives illegal immigrants additional protections.

Jordan, Issa, and McClintock signed letters to San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl, San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, and San Francisco Police Chief Derrick Lew, in addition to Sheriff Martinez, all requesting records related to noncooperation with immigration enforcement.

The letter to Wahl notes that the San Diego Police Department isn’t permitted under city law to ask about immigration status or participate in immigration enforcement. In April, the San Diego City Council passed an ordinance requiring a judicial warrant for federal immigration officials to access “non-public city property.”

San Francisco prohibits the use of any resources to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law and restricts information sharing about a criminal alien’s release date. The sheriff said his office honored one detainer out of thousands.

“The only time that I, as a constitutional officer in California, work with ICE is if there is a need to notify them of somebody who has serious violent felonies, convictions, and a history of criminal behavior which qualifies them to be notified,” Miyamoto told local media last June. “Out of thousands of requests for detention, I think we have only honored one.”

“In fact, the city’s sanctuary policies even prevented immigration officials from interviewing an illegal alien from Canada who attacked then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at the couple’s home in October 2022,” the letter says.

The letter continues, “In practice, San Francisco’s pro-illegal alien policies ensure dangerous criminals are released from SFPD’s custody—or never apprehended by SFPD at all—and are free to reoffend.”

The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office, San Francisco Police Department, San Diego Police Department, and San Diego County Sheriff’s Office all did not respond to inquiries for this story by publication time.