Deported Four Times. Back in California.
He Just Pleaded Guilty to Killing
an 11-Year-Old on Thanksgiving.
On the evening of November 26, 2025 — the night before Thanksgiving — Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz, an 11-year-old boy, ran into the street in front of his Escondido apartment to chase a soccer ball. A vehicle struck him near the intersection of East Washington Avenue and Hickory Street, did not stop, and drove away. Aiden died at Rady Children’s Hospital the next morning.
The driver who turned himself in three days later was Hector Amador Balderas, 44, a Mexican national. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Balderas had been removed from the United States four times before that night — on March 19, 2004; June 10, 2004; June 15, 2004; and March 4, 2010. He was on his fifth illegal entry when his car killed Aiden.
On May 8, 2026, Balderas pleaded guilty in San Diego County Superior Court to felony hit-and-run causing death. He faces two to three years in California state prison at sentencing in early June. The case became a national fight the moment ICE filed a detainer on Balderas and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office — under California’s sanctuary statute, the California Values Act, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D)in 2017 — refused to honor it.
- 4×prior deportations of the defendantHector Amador Balderas, 44, removed by U.S. immigration authorities on March 19, 2004; June 10, 2004; June 15, 2004; and March 4, 2010 — per DHS press release of December 2, 2025.
- 5thillegal entry — current at time of crashBy DHS's count, Balderas was on his fifth unlawful presence in the United States when his vehicle struck and killed 11-year-old Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz in Escondido on November 26, 2025.
- 11age of the victimAiden Antonio Torres De Paz, struck retrieving a soccer ball outside his family's apartment near East Washington Ave and Hickory St; pronounced dead at Rady Children's Hospital on Thanksgiving morning, November 27, 2025.
- 2–3 yrsstate prison range exposed by guilty pleaPer court documents reported by NBC 7 San Diego and 10News, Balderas's May 2026 guilty plea to California Vehicle Code § 20001 (hit-and-run causing death) exposes him to two to three years in state prison; sentencing in early June 2026, in custody without bail pending.
- RefusedICE detainer rejection by SD County SheriffSan Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez's office, citing California's SB 54 (the California Values Act, 2017), declined to hold Balderas for ICE pickup absent a judicial warrant or qualifying conviction — the policy choice DHS Asst. Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called a threat to put him 'back onto California's streets.'
The scene: Around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 26, 2025, Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz — 11 years old — ran into the 400 block of East Washington Avenue in Escondido to retrieve a soccer ball. A vehicle struck him. The driver did not stop. Witnesses called 911. Aiden was rushed to Rady Children’s Hospital in critical condition.
The death: Aiden was pronounced dead the following morning — Thanksgiving Day. The Escondido Police Department launched a fatal hit-and-run investigation and broadcast a vehicle description.
The arrest: Three days later, on November 29, the driver turned himself in. He was identified as Hector Amador Balderas, 44, of Escondido. He was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on a felony hit-and-run charge under California Vehicle Code § 20001 and held on $300,000 bail.
The community response: Aiden’s neighborhood organized a memorial soccer game in his honor. His family posted tributes describing him as a “warrior child.”
“Fly high, my warrior child.”
Aiden's family · public tribute · December 2025
Within days of the arrest, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a record on Balderas that the Sheriff’s booking sheet did not contain. He had been removed from the United States four times. He had returned each time. He was here a fifth time the night Aiden died.
Removal #1: March 19, 2004.
Removal #2: June 10, 2004 — less than three months after the first.
Removal #3: June 15, 2004 — five days after the second.
Removal #4: March 4, 2010.
Status on November 26, 2025: Present in the United States unlawfully for the fifth time, per DHS. Driving a vehicle in Escondido, California. No ICE custody. No federal hold. No state prosecution pending for the prior re-entries.
The detainer: ICE filed an immigration detainer with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office on November 29, 2025, requesting that Balderas be held or that ICE be notified before his release. The Sheriff’s Office declined to honor it.
The legal authority Sheriff Kelly Martinez’s office cited for refusing the ICE detainer is California Senate Bill 54, the California Values Act, signed into law in October 2017 by Gov. Jerry Brown (D). The bill’s lead author was then-Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles). Its enforcement now sits with Attorney General Rob Bonta (D-CA), who has pledged to sue local jurisdictions that fail to comply.
The rule: California state and local law enforcement — including county sheriffs — may not transfer a person to immigration authorities or hold a person past their release date solely on the basis of a federal civil immigration detainer. Cooperation requires either a judicial warrant or a qualifying state conviction.
The carve-outs: Sheriffs may notify ICE about release of individuals convicted of certain serious or violent felonies enumerated in California Penal Code § 1192.7 and § 667.5. Hit-and-run causing death — the charge Balderas was booked on November 29 — is not on either list.
Sheriff’s Office statement:“The Sheriff’s Office does not hold individuals based on federal detainer warrants” and will not transfer someone to immigration authorities “unless authorized by a judicial warrant or based upon a qualifying conviction as per state law.”
Federal response: DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin publicly directed her response at Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), not at Sheriff Martinez: “Sanctuary laws threaten to put this killer back onto California’s streets.”
Newsom’s response: Spokeswoman Diana Crofts-Pelayocalled the DHS framing “a complete lie,” saying “Nothing prohibits the federal government from doing its job in this case” and that California coordinates with ICE on the deportation of convicted criminals.
Governor of California: Gavin Newsom (D). Holds the office that signs and defends the California Values Act’s enforcement posture and administers the state prison system into which Balderas will be committed.
California Attorney General: Rob Bonta (D). Has publicly committed to enforcing SB 54 against any local jurisdiction that strays from its limits and to defending the statute against federal challenge.
SB 54 author: Then-Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles); signed into law by then-Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in October 2017.
San Diego County Sheriff: Kelly Martinez (nonpartisan office; previously a Democrat). Department whose policy refused the ICE detainer on Balderas, citing SB 54.
San Diego County District Attorney: Summer Stephan (no party preference). Office prosecuting the felony hit-and-run.
Mayor of Escondido: Dane White(Republican). Escondido is one of the few North County cities to have publicly opposed broader sanctuary expansions; the city itself does not control the Sheriff’s detainer policy.
The accountability line: The detainer rejection that DHS argues let Balderas remain reachable to drive that night is a function of state law, written by Democratic legislators, signed by a Democratic governor, defended by a Democratic attorney general, and applied uniformly by a county sheriff who has no statutory choice in the matter.
On May 8, 2026, in San Diego County Superior Court (Vista), Balderas changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on one felony count of hit-and-run causing death — California Vehicle Code § 20001(a),(b)(2). Court documents reported by NBC 7 San Diego and 10News indicate his sentencing exposure: two to three years in California state prison. Sentencing is scheduled for early June 2026. He remains in custody without bail.
The conduct: Hit a child who was retrieving a soccer ball. Did not stop. Did not call 911. Drove home.
The charge: California does not have a separate “vehicular manslaughter while driving without a license” count automatically attached to a non-citizen with no legal status. The DA’s office charged felony hit-and-run causing death — the gross-violation Vehicle Code count, not gross vehicular manslaughter (Cal. Penal Code § 191.5), which would have required a finding of gross negligence in the act of driving itself.
The sentence range: Two to three years in state prison, per the negotiated plea reported in court filings.
The post-sentence reality: California state prison terms make a defendant available to ICE on completion. After serving his term, Balderas will be a five-time deportee headed for a fifth removal — the option that was already available in March 2010, and the four times before it.
The aggravator the system did not have: The sentencing court will not formally weigh the four prior removals against him. Federal immigration history is not a state sentencing factor under the California Rules of Court for a Vehicle Code § 20001 count.
The defenders of California’s sanctuary regime make a defensible argument: detainer compliance erodes immigrant communities’ willingness to report crime, and the federal government already has every legal tool it needs to remove unlawfully present non-citizens without conscripting local sheriffs.
The opponents make a different one: the state’s policy is a categorical rule that, by design, treats the post-arrest non-cooperation between county jails and ICE as more important than the marginal cases where that non-cooperation lets a defendant who has already been removed four times stay reachable enough to keep driving on California streets. The Aiden Torres case is the categorical rule meeting one of those marginal cases, in front of an 11-year-old who chased a ball into the street.
Balderas’s guilty plea did not resolve that fight. It documented it.
A man removed from the United States four times — in 2004, 2004, 2004, and 2010 — came back a fifth time, drove into 11-year-old Aiden Torres in front of his Escondido home on Thanksgiving Eve, fled, and on May 8, 2026 pleaded guilty to felony hit-and-run causing death. San Diego County’s Sheriff refused ICE’s detainer under California’s SB 54 sanctuary law, signed by Brown (D), defended by Newsom (D) and Bonta (D). His exposure: two to three years.
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No Truth Social post has been verified that responds directly to this case by name. We do not embed posts whose URLs we cannot confirm. If a verifiable Trump or White House post on the Escondido detainer surfaces, it will be added here in a follow-up edit.