FLORIDA: ILLEGAL ALIEN DRIVER KILLS FAMILY; GETS PUNISHED WITH A TICKET

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 

purposes:

Lucas Dos Reis Laurindo of Brazil, who is in the United States illegally, was driving a pickup truck on FL-429 last month when traffic began to slow — but Laurindo did not slow down in time, resulting in a direct collision with the Smith family’s Toyota Sienna, which was overturned in the crash.

The impact killed five-year-old Scarlett; her 12-year-old brother, Jaxon; their 41-year-old mother, Julie; and 76-year-old grandmother, Josephine.

Jaxon was pronounced dead the day after the accident. The other three, who were in the back seat, were killed when the vehicle flipped over.

Also in the car, but surviving the crash, were Josephine’s husband, Bill; Julie’s husband, Shane; and daughters Shalie and Skylar. The Smiths were visiting Florida from Massachusetts.

The Florida Highway Patrol performed an investigation into the crash. The result was the issuance of a careless driving ticket to Laurindo. In Florida, a careless driving ticket comes with a fine between $160 and $500, along with four points on the offender’s driver’s license.  

The consequences for careless driving are less severe than they are for the related charge of reckless driving, the difference being that in the former, the driver is unaware he is operating his vehicle dangerously, whereas in the latter he is aware.

“The result of the crash investigation has determined that Mr. Dos Reis Laurindo was at fault for the collision,” said the Florida Highway Patrol in a statement made three weeks after the accident. “Under Florida law, the strongest charge that could be made against him, is a ticket issued for careless driving.”

Florida currently does not allow illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses. Driving without a license, as in the case of Laurindo, is a misdemeanor under state law punishable by up to 60 days in prison, though law-enforcement statements do not indicate this action was taken against the Brazilian national.

Laurindo is now in federal custody at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Glades County, Florida — on immigration charges unrelated to the crash. He was arrested while trying to board a plane back to his native Brazil, ostensibly for working unlawfully while in the country.

Laurindo is petitioning U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to allow him “to board his flight to Brazil.” His petition reads that he was taken into custody on February 21.

The Brazilian’s fate would have been a mere slap on the wrist had ICE not stepped in and delivered some justice by arresting him — even if it was for charges unrelated to the accident.

Of course, though he apparently did not have a violent record, Laurindo would still have been kept from slaying the Smiths had U.S. immigration law been enforced and the illegal driver been barred from entering the country for which he did not have a visa.

While Laurindo did not appear to have an ICE detainer on him, there have been many other cases in which crimes could have been prevented had sanctuary jurisdictions cooperated with immigration officials. (Detainers are given when ICE’s Criminal Alien Program makes a match between the biometric data of an arrestee and his criminal and immigration history. A detainer to a local law-enforcement agency means ICE expects to be notified when an alien is released from custody so he can be placed in the hands of immigration and deportation procedures can commence.)

A recently published report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General spoke of the dangers posed by the policy of sanctuary cities and states to ignore detainers issued by ICE.

The OIG report reads:

Through its Criminal Alien Program (CAP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can successfully identify aliens charged with or convicted of crimes. However, because ICE relies on cooperation from other law enforcement agencies, ICE sometimes faces challenges apprehending aliens in uncooperative jurisdictions. ICE’s inability to detain aliens identified through CAP contributes to increased risk those aliens will commit more crimes. Furthermore, having to arrest “at-large” aliens may put officer, detainee, and public safety at risk and strains ICE’s staffing resources.

For example, there is the recent case of 34-year-old Christopher Puente of Mexico, who sexually assaulted a three-year-old girl after being let go by Chicago authorities despite having an ICE detainer on him.

The White House has pointed to the story of 92-year-old Maria Fuentes, who was sexually assaulted and murdered in New York City. The suspect is an illegal alien who has a detainer against him, yet was freely released in November.

When ICE is the only entity preserving law and order in such tragic situation, it’s no wonder the anarchistic open-borders Left wants to abolish it.