A foreign national identified as an Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) “enforcement priority” in 2009 is now facing misdemeanor charges in North Carolina where he allegedly caused the death of a five-year-old boy.
Alejandro Suarez, 28, had allegedly been driving a large construction truck. Officials stated he left the truck running and failed to set the parking brake, ABC11 reported Wednesday night. The truck rolled down a hill and crashed into a house. The crash killed the young boy, William Everett Copeland – who went by his middle name, Everett.
ICE officials issued an immigration detainer for Suarez Wednesday night after confirming the Mexican national was “unlawfully present” in the United States.
A statement obtained from ICE officials by the local ABC affiliate revealed that Suarez “is an ICE enforcement priority due to a prior conviction for driving under the influence in 2009. The statement did not reveal if any steps had been taken to apprehend Suarez prior to the crash that killed young Everett.
The statement from ICE stated:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a request that local law enforcement notify ICE prior to releasing Alejandro Suarez, a Mexican national unlawfully present in the United States, following his arrest December 26, on misdemeanor death by motor vehicle charges out of Orange County, North Carolina. Suarez is an ICE enforcement priority due to a prior conviction for driving under the influence in 2009.
ICE is…