A Guatemalan man died on Thursday after an SUV struck him as he fled from a federal deportation raid in California.
The morning of the incident, Immigration and Customs Enforcement was raiding a Home Depot in Monrovia, California, according to KABC-TV in Los Angeles.
Evidently, the raid sent Carlos Roberto Montoya, 52, running toward the 210 Freeway, where an SUV struck him at between 50 and 60 miles per hour.
He was later taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.
“The Consulate General of Guatemala in Los Angeles deeply regrets this sad event and is currently in contact with the family, providing the necessary assistance,” the consulate said in a statement to KABC-TV.
A man who was fatally struck by an SUV on the 210 Freeway while fleeing a federal immigration raid in Monrovia on Thursday has been identified.
Carlos Roberto Montoya, a 52-year-old man from Guatemala, was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital following the crash.
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) August 15, 2025
In a statement, ICE told the Los Angeles Times that it wasn’t after Montoya, and that it only learned about his death hours after the raid.
Reports do not specifically identify Montoya as an illegal immigrant, but they did call him a “Guatemalan national.”
Democratic California Rep. Judy Chu said he had lived in the U.S. for three years.
“Make no mistake, his death is a direct result of the Trump administration’s strategy of sowing fear and intimidation throughout our community,” Chu said. “It’s designed to instill fear, so that people will risk anything, even their lives, to escape it.”
Are we supposed to be sad?
Democrats killed that man by telling him it was ok to come here illegally.
If he wasn’t here illegally, he’d likely still be alive. https://t.co/W9Jzxhq9m5
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) August 15, 2025
Family, friends, and activist groups held a vigil for Montoya on Friday.
During the Thursday Home Depot raid, ICE detained more than a dozen illegals.
More than 100,000 Americans have applied for roles within ICE, ever since the agency announced in July that it was recruiting, Fox News reported Tuesday.
“Our country is calling you to serve at ICE,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News Digital.
“In the wake of the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country,” she added.
“This is a defining moment in our nation’s history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
