How California’s “soft on crime” and “open-border” policies have cost the state a lot of money

Two active young people, Nikolai, 22, and Ana, 19, were killed in a terrible car accident on an Orange County freeway in November 2021. This terrible accident wasn’t caused by just any careless driver; it was Oscar Ortega Anguano, a Mexican citizen who had been convicted of multiple felonies, deported before, and had no legal right to stay in the United States.

Ortega’s car hit the young couple’s car head-on while going almost 100 miles per hour and while he was drunk and high. The young couple’s car quickly caught fire. They couldn’t get away. Not only were their deaths sad, but they could have been avoided. They show the terrible results of California’s “sanctuary state” laws, its easy treatment of repeat offenders, and a criminal justice system that often protects the rights of criminals more than harmless Americans.

In this case, it’s not just one case. It’s a symbol of a bigger, systemic problem: policies that are too extreme, political games, and blatant disrespect for federal law are killing people. And Tom Homan, who used to be the assistant director of ICE, has had enough.

The Horrible Truth Behind the News

The horrible feelings that Nikolai and Ana’s families had when they heard the terrible news about their deaths are hard to put into words. At one point, they were having fun and making plans for the future. In the next second, they were gone. They had been burned alive by a man who shouldn’t have been in the country at all, let alone driving easily through its streets.

Ortega had a past of breaking the law. He had committed multiple felonies and offences over and over again. He had been sent back to his home country twice. He was able to stay in California, though, because the state government has made it a policy to always get in the way of federal immigration police. So-called “compassion” and “equity” led California to protect Ortega, but it failed to protect the people it was supposed to protect.

California’s laxity: a system that encourages crime

Ortega was given a 10-year term after being found guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter while drunk. That statement was not at all what the families who lost a loved one needed, but it was something. They thought, at the very least, that the justice system would carry out the whole term. They were wrong.

Because of California’s policy of giving jail credits to people who participate in rehabilitation programs, even violent offenders like Ortega could be free in just a few years. In spite of the fact that his acts killed two young people in a terrible crash that left nothing but destruction and grief, he did this.

How is it that a system that says it is based on fairness can let such a horrible abuse of that principle happen? So how is it possible for a man with Ortega’s record to be freed early?

This is not health care. This is giving up on safety for everyone, moral duty, and the simple respect for victims and their families that is due to them.

The pain and fight for accountability of the families

The sudden deaths of Nikolai and Ana have left their families to pick up the pieces of their broken lives. They could have stayed in their grief, but instead they spoke out, demanded answers, and called for responsibility. They have written to state leaders and asked them to stop Ortega from being released early. Too few people have the guts to stand up to the political machine that puts ideas ahead of people’s lives, but these people are.

Their pain isn’t something they’re doing. It’s a very private matter. This is a group of parents who have buried their children because of a broken system. Now, they are fighting that system to stop more unfairness. They should be able to be heard, not drowned out by leftist talking points or apathy from the government.

When the government fails, ICE steps in

The central government has to step in when the state doesn’t do its job. That’s exactly what Tom Homan, who used to be the acting director of ICE, promised to do. Homan made it clear that ICE will be ready when Ortega gets out of jail because he was angry that California might let him go early. They already have a detainer out for him and plan to arrest him and remove him.

Homan says that ICE should guard its own people if California won’t. If the state keeps protecting dangerous criminals, the federal government needs to step in. This isn’t about taking sides; it’s about staying alive. It’s about making sure that no more innocent people die because of political games and ideological stubbornness.

Sanctuary states: safe places for criminals to stay?

Homan has more problems with California than just this one case. He says very clearly that sanctuary states are bad and that they are not safe places for the weak; instead, they are places where crime grows. By not working with federal immigration officials, these states are letting repeat criminals stay in the country without being punished.

Local police are not allowed to tell ICE when criminal aliens are freed because they are told not to by state leaders. This means that dangerous people are let loose into communities without any notice and without any government oversight. Not only is it careless, it’s also dangerous.

And these effects are not just ideas. They are real, terrible, and will always be there. That’s clear from Nikolai and Ana.

What role do liberal courts play in judicial obstruction?

Homan also talked about another problem that is getting worse: activist courts issuing national injunctions to stop federal immigration policy. Using the courts as a tool against the executive branch to stop immigration law enforcement is a tactic that the left is using more and more often.

What used to be a fair way to run the government is now a battleground for politics. Many times, Democratic administrations choose district court judges. These judges are using their positions to go against legal orders from the executive office. This is not fair; it’s mischief. It’s also making things worse on the ground.

The Supreme Court needs to do something. It’s important to make it clear that the president has the power to enforce immigration laws, and it’s not okay for local courts to go against national policy for ideological reasons.

What the politicians want to do about the border crisis

Homan didn’t hold back when he talked about the Biden administration’s part in this disaster. He says that the federal government is not only careless, but also involved. The Biden administration has made a crisis by refusing to follow existing immigration rules, opening the border, and letting a lot of migrants go without holding them.

And it’s not a mistake. Homan and other critics think this is a planned political move—a way to bring in a lot of new voters, hold off on deportations until legal status is given, and change the population to help the government win elections.

It’s not about kindness; it’s about power. Votes, not goodness, matter. Everyday Americans, like Nikolai’s and Ana’s families, are the ones who suffer because of this strategy, while lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are proud of their “humanitarian” approach.

“American Lives Matter”: Getting Law and Order Back

We need to get things back in order. To make sure that American people always come first again. That following the law is important. You can’t give up on public safety.

People need to pay attention after the Ortega case. A wake-up call for a country that has strayed too far from the values that used to keep it safe and strong. We need to go back to a system where breaking the law is punished, not defended, where illegal immigration is stopped, not encouraged, and where the rights of victims are more important than the rights of criminals.

This is not being extremist. It just makes sense. It’s the very least we should expect from our organizations and our leaders.

Keeping the Line: A Call to Act

This is something that conservatives all over the country need to work together on. It’s not just about politics; it’s about life and death. We can’t let radical extremists take down our legal system in the name of progress. There can’t be a situation where illegal aliens are free to roam while innocent Americans are buried.

The law needs to be stricter on punishment. The central government and local governments need to work together. Sanctuary laws that keep criminals safe and put communities at risk need to be taken down. And most importantly, we need strong, honest leadership that puts the American people first.

Tom Homan shows us what it means to be a leader. The families of Nikolai and Ana are the same. Now it’s time for the rest of the country to do the same.

Justice needs more than words to be done.

That accident on that Orange County highway was not a fluke. It had to happen because the system was broken. A system that puts beliefs ahead of responsibility, safety ahead of safety, and politics ahead of people’s lives.

Outrage isn’t enough for real justice. It calls for action. It calls for policy changes. Leaders who are ready to say and do what is needed are needed.

For Nikolai. For Ana. And for every American who thinks the law should matter, our borders should be safe, and our neighborhoods should be protected.

Do not forget. Also, let’s not let this happen again.