The early release of an illegal immigrant convicted of killing two teenagers in a 2021 drunk driving crash has sparked national outrage and prompted swift federal action. Trump administration officials have vowed to intervene if California fails to honor an immigration detainer issued against the repeat offender.
Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano, a Mexican national deported multiple times, was sentenced to 10 years in 2022 for gross vehicular manslaughter in the deaths of 19-year-olds Anya Varfolomeev and Nicholay Osokin. The fiery crash on the 405 freeway in Seal Beach occurred while Ortega-Anguiano was driving drunk and at high speed. He has served just three years of his sentence.
Despite a history of serious criminal convictions—including burglary, vehicle theft, and spousal battery with kidnapping—California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is preparing to release Ortega-Anguiano early. ICE has placed a detainer on him, but the state’s sanctuary policies raise serious concerns about whether it will be enforced.
Tom Homan, a former acting ICE director and Trump’s border czar, said federal officials are prepared to act if California fails to cooperate. “We’ll have ICE agents outside that facility to take custody of this individual and deport him,” Homan told Fox News. “Re-entry to the country, deported. Deportation is a felony. We will prosecute him, and we will deport him.”
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, recently sworn in for California’s Central District, announced a felony immigration charge against Ortega-Anguiano under 8 USC 1326. The charge could carry up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
“If the State of California will not seek the full measure of justice against this individual, the Justice Department will,” Essayli said.
The case has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over sanctuary policies, immigration enforcement, and public safety—especially when illegal immigrants with serious criminal records are granted leniency by state authorities.
