Recently, a heartbreaking incident unfolded in north Houston when seven-year-old Ivory Smith lost her life in a late-night drunk driving accident. The perpetrator, Venezuelan migrant Joel Enrique Gonzalez Chacin, was responsible for the fatal crash that occurred just two and a half months after ICE released a hold against him, as per court documents.
Reports indicate that Chacin had a prior encounter with ICE earlier in the year when he was arrested for assaulting a family member in June. Despite being initially placed on an ICE hold, the felony assault charge against him was reduced to a misdemeanor. After pleading guilty, Chacin served a 113-day jail sentence, which he had already completed, and was released the same day. Surprisingly, the ICE detainer against him was also lifted on that day for reasons that remain undisclosed.
