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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has apprehended a mother, who was residing in the country illegally, following a tragic car accident in Arizona. The incident resulted in the death of her 9-year-old daughter and left three other children injured. These details were reported by Fox News Digital.
Authorities have identified the woman as Brenda Liliana Rivera-Estrada, a 30-year-old Mexican national. Investigators suspect she was impaired when the accident occurred on April 12. The crash ejected her daughter from the vehicle and injured two boys, aged 11 and 3, as well as a 1-year-old baby girl. Reports indicate that the daughter was sharing a seatbelt with one of her siblings at the time.
Rivera-Estrada faces allegations of several felony charges, including manslaughter and child abuse. Initially held on a $100,000 bond, she was released from local custody after county prosecutors chose not to press charges. ICE subsequently detained her on an immigration hold.
“The arrest of Brenda Liliana Rivera-Estrada by ICE highlights the crucial role of the Criminal Alien Program in ensuring public safety,” stated Alejandro Almeida, Deputy Field Office Director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Phoenix, in a statement to Fox News.
This tragic incident has drawn attention to the ongoing efforts of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations as they address cases involving individuals who are in the country illegally and pose a potential threat to public safety.
“Her fate now rests with the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, and any available administrative or judicial appellate recourse, which will determine her eligibility to remain in the United States,” Almeida added.
ICE officers first encountered Rivera-Estrada at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Intake, Transfer and Release facility on the day she was booked April 16. ICE said it maintains a presence at the facility and interviews those booked there to identify illegal immigrants and removable criminal aliens.
The agency said that work is part of ICE’s Criminal Alien Program, which is designed to transfer removable criminal aliens into federal immigration custody in a controlled setting.
Rivera-Estrada allegedly entered the United States through Nogales, Arizona, on Feb. 14, 2009, as a nonimmigrant border crosser with authorization to remain for up to 30 days, according to ICE. Officials said she remained in the country beyond that period in violation of federal immigration law.
She will remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings, according to officials.
“The suspect chose to get in a vehicle where she was allegedly under the influence of marijuana,” a prosecutor told Fox 10 Phoenix. “Multiple witnesses stated that she was driving above the posted speed limit, which was 65.”
Arizona troopers reportedly smelled the odor of marijuana at the crash scene, and officials said Rivera-Estrada admitted in a court hearing that she smoked marijuana, Fox 10 reported.