Aggressive ICE stops in Savannah raise fears among residents

The operation by federal immigration agents in Chatham County that resulted in the death of a Savannah school teacher this week was not a one-off. 

Since September, federal immigration agents have roamed the mile-long stretch of Whitefield Avenue between Montgomery Cross Road and Hesse K-8 School targeting drivers who appear to be Latino, according to three people who have been stopped in these operations — one American citizen and two Central American nationals working and residing legally in Chatham County.

These three people described the encounters as terrifying. Unmarked vehicles with flashing lights in their grille surrounded their cars and aggressively steered them to the side of the road. Once stopped, masked agents encircled them and demanded identification — without ever identifying themselves.

That’s what appears to have been underway on Monday, when a Guatemalan national in the county illegally, Oscar Vasquez-Lopez, fled immigration agents. He ran the red light at the intersection of Whitefield and Truman Parkway, crashing into Linda Davis’ car, according to Chatham County Police and the Department of Homeland Security. Davis, a teacher at Hesse, died of her injuries, something that DHS blamed on Vasquez-Lopez for using “dangerous tactics” against federal officers and committing the crime of “resisting arrest.” 

“Fleeing from and resisting federal law enforcement is not only a crime but extraordinarily dangerous and puts oneself, our officers and innocent civilians at risk. Now, an innocent bystander has lost their life,” said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.