An illegal migrant released into the country by the Obama administration allegedly killed a senior citizen in a hit-and-run accident in the sanctuary state of California.
The Santa Ana Sheriff’s Office arrested Humberto Munoz-Gatica after he allegedly struck 71-year-old Barry William Tutt on Friday and drove off, according to local reports. The Trump administration has since revealed that Munoz-Gatica is a Mexican national who has been living unlawfully in the U.S for nearly two decades.
“On November 8, ICE lodged an arrest detainer for Humberto Munoz-Gatica, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, after he was arrested by Santa Ana Sheriff’s Office and charged with driving under the influence and hit and run,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Unfortunately, Gavin Newsom’s California is a sanctuary state and does not cooperate with ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement].”
“This illegal alien’s rap sheet also includes a conviction for grand theft,” McLaughlin said, adding that Munoz-Gatica first entered the U.S. on a tourist visa that expired in August 2008. “ICE arrested him for overstaying his visa on January 18, 2011. The Obama administration then RELEASED him into the country.”
Humberto Munoz-Gatica. DHS image.
Local law enforcement responded Friday to reports of a collision involving a vehicle and a pedestrian in Dana Point, Calif., according to the Orange County Register. Deputies rushed the pedestrian, Tutt, to the hospital, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries. Witnesses said that a silver Ford sedan hit Tutt and then fled the scene, leading law enforcement to Munoz-Gatica.
“This is yet another example of sanctuary and open border policies putting American lives at risk,” McLaughlin said.
The DHS statement marks the latest back-and-forth between California and the Trump administration, which have increasingly sparred over immigration enforcement.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) includes the Golden State in its running list of sanctuary jurisdictions and over the summer filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles for its purported sanctuary policies. Los Angeles became the epicenter of wide-scale anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots that sparked unrest across the country.
“The practical upshot of Los Angeles’ refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities has, since June 6, 2025, been lawlessness, rioting, looting, and vandalism,” the DOJ’s lawsuit said. “The situation became so dire that the Federal Government deployed the California National Guard and United States Marines to quell the chaos.”
In October, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he would pull $160 million from California for allegedly continuing to hand out commercial driver’s licenses to illegal migrants. Duffy had previously said California’s non-compliance contributed to the death of three in a crash allegedly caused by an illegal migrant truck driver.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Tony Webster, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
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