Federal Law Enforcement and Sanctuary Policies

The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that Honduran national Ever Omar Alvarenga‑Rios is an illegal immigrant with a final order of removal dating to 2018 and that he caused a multi‑vehicle crash in Baltimore on Thursday while trying to evade arrest by ICE officers, injuring two agents. DHS says that after officers attempted a vehicle stop, Alvarenga allegedly drove recklessly through the city, then "slammed on his brakes," triggering the crash, fled on foot, ignored commands, and was subdued with what the agency calls the minimum force necessary. The statement directly contradicts Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who posted photos of Alvarenga in a hospital bed and described him as an "asylum seeker" rear‑ended by an ICE vehicle on his way to work, while also accusing ICE of denying the man access to attorneys. Acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis used the incident to attack "sanctuary politicians" for encouraging illegal immigrants to evade arrest and said their rhetoric endangers migrants, officers and the public. The clash is already feeding polarized online narratives over whether local "sanctuary" messaging is driving resistance to ICE and how often partisan framing of enforcement incidents diverges from federal accounts of what happened on the ground.