The driver charged in connection with a fatal car crash that killed a Senate staffer in Nevada has been identified as an illegal immigrant who came across the southern border during President Joe Biden‘s first year in office, the Washington Examiner has learned.
Police in Reno charged Elmer Rueda-Linares, 18, for running off from the site where he crashed into another vehicle, resulting in the death of Kurt Englehart, the state senior adviser to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).
Now, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Rueda-Linares illegally entered the United States from Mexico during Biden’s first two months in office.
Rueda-Linares crashed at 4:30 a.m. on April 6, according to police. Officers have not disclosed if either driver was intoxicated or speeding, nor if Englehart was the passenger or driver in the second vehicle.
Rueda-Linares came over the border into Rio Grande City, Texas, on March 12, 2021.
(Washoe County Sheriff’s Department)
Rueda-Linares would have been 14 or 15 at the time that he crossed the border, likely without the company of a parent because he was detained in federal custody for 100 days before being released into the U.S., an indication that federal authorities were looking for an adult to release him to within the country.
“United States Customs and Border Protection arrested him, and he was later released on his own recognizance June 22, 2021,” an ICE spokesperson wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner.
Unaccompanied migrant children who arrive alone are initially apprehended by Border Patrol agents from the Department of Homeland Security and then transferred within days to the Department of Health and Human Services for care as the government searches for an adult to release the child to.
The HHS website states that the average minor is held for 30 days, but Rueda-Linares was detained more than three times that length.
Cortez Masto issued a statement initially after Englehart was killed, saying her team was heartbroken by his death and that “he touched many lives” during his work as a public servant. Englehart had worked for Cortez Masto for eight years on her campaign and in her office.
The senator has not personally posted a reaction to the development involving an illegal immigrant, but an aide said the senator would await the outcome of legal proceedings.
“Senator Cortez Masto looks forward to justice being served and has confidence in the local police and prosecutors,” Cortez Masto spokesperson Lauren Wodarski said in an email Thursday.
Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan criticized Cortez Masto.
“If the Senator refuses to accept that the historic open border hasn’t resulted in many Americans being killed by people that are not supposed to be here and also disrespected this country by committing the crime of illegal entry then she truly is not an honest representative of the taxpayers in her district,” Homan wrote in a text message to the Washington Examiner on Thursday evening.
“If she refuses to acknowledge and show respect to her staffer that was killed by one of these criminals then we will honor him in about 9 months when the Trump administration will hold these people accountable and deport them as is required by the law, a law written by Congress,” Homan added. “A law that she does not clearly understand or accept.”
Rueda-Linares was initially charged with a fatal hit-and-run, but police dropped the charge in place of fleeing the scene.
ICE requested that the local police at Washoe County Jail hold him in custody until he can be transferred to federal police, who will detain him before a judge determines if he will be deported.
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ICE requested local police contact them and hold Rueda-Linares for 48 hours should he make his $100,000 bail.
The DHS and ICE did not respond to requests for comment.
