Hit-and-Run, Homicide, Assault, Robbery: Congress Probes Effects of California Sanctuary Policies
2nd June 2026
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, California, outside San Diego. Balderas was previously removed from the United States four times, according to the Department of Homeland Security.