Homeland Security defends officers in immigrant's fatal car crash in Michigan

Federal immigration officers were a half-mile away when a man who was illegally in the U.S. crashed a car at high speed and died in Michigan last weekend, authorities said Thursday.

The Department of Homeland Security appeared to try to counter any claim that officers were aggressively pursuing the vehicle when the crash happened Sunday in Grand Rapids. The death of Mario Coronado Juarez has angered friends and activists, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has directed state police to investigate.

Juarez, a native of Guatemala, apparently was not the specific target of officers. But he was driving a car that was registered to another person from Guatemala who was also in the U.S. illegally and wanted back in his home country, Homeland Security said in a statement.

“As officers attempted the stop to confirm the identity of the driver, the driver of the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed,” DHS said. "In the interest of public safety, ICE officers immediately discontinued the enforcement action.

“A short time later, officers saw smoke nearly half a mile from the attempted stop and discovered the vehicle had crashed into a tree and caught fire,” DHS said.

The agency said officers tried to help Juarez and put out the fire before Grand Rapids first responders arrived. Juarez, who was in his 30s, died at the scene.

He was supporting a wife and three children by working construction in Grand Rapids and was saving money to build a home for them in Guatemala where they live, said Gema Lowe, an immigrant rights activist.

She led a chant of Juarez' name at a plaza outside city hall Tuesday and said he had died because of ICE's “vicious persecution of immigrant workers.”