JACKSON, N.J. – The Department of Homeland Security on Monday directly blamed former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies for the death of a 9-month-old boy struck outside a Jackson Township grocery store, saying federal immigration detainers have now been lodged against both women charged in connection with the crash.
“An innocent baby would still be alive today had it not been for Joe Biden’s DISASTROUS open border policy that released MILLIONS of illegal aliens into our country,” DHS said Monday. The department called on New Jersey to honor ICE detainers for both defendants.
The pointed statement adds a national immigration fight to an already heartbreaking Ocean County case. Maria CobonGuzman, 20, is charged with manslaughter after prosecutors say she drove a Ford Fusion into a mother and her two children Friday despite never having possessed a valid driver’s license.
DHS Blames Biden Border Policies After Jackson Boy’s Death
DHS described CobonGuzman and co-defendant Ariadna Lazaro-Flores, 22, as “criminal illegal aliens” and said Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued detainers for both women.
The federal agency’s statement goes significantly further than the initial criminal announcement from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, which did not address either woman’s immigration history.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, under Phil Murphy, routinely omits the immigration status and citizenship of criminals in its press releases.
DHS also said one of the women had previously been scheduled for removal from the United States, adding a new dimension to questions about how she remained in the country before Friday’s fatal crash.
- DHS says ICE has lodged immigration detainers against both women charged after the fatal Jackson crash.
- CobonGuzman is accused of driving without ever having held a valid driver’s license and striking a mother and her two children, killing the 9-month-old boy.
- New Jersey limits voluntary state and local participation in federal civil immigration enforcement, a policy state officials defend as necessary to maintain trust between immigrant communities and police.
What is DHS saying about the Jackson crash?
DHS says the baby’s death would not have occurred but for Biden-era border policies and is demanding that New Jersey honor ICE detainers lodged against both defendants. That is the federal agency’s stated position; the immigration case itself concerns the conduct surrounding Friday’s crash.
Baby Killed Outside NPGS Grocery Store
The buzz in the media began after the crash, shortly before noon Friday at the NPGS grocery store on West County Line Road.
According to prosecutors, Jackson Township police arrived around 11:55 a.m. and found that a mother and her two children — a 5-year-old girl and a 9-month-old boy — had been struck by a vehicle in the parking lot.
All three were rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
The baby died at the hospital. His mother and sister were reported in stable condition when prosecutors announced the charges.
Investigators say CobonGuzman was driving the Ford Fusion that struck the mother and the carriage carrying the children.
“Further investigation revealed that CobonGuzman did not possess, nor had she ever possessed, a valid driver’s license in this or any other state,” the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said.
She now faces manslaughter, two counts of assault by auto and a charge of operating a vehicle without ever having possessed or been issued a valid driver’s license while involved in a fatal crash.
Why was Ariadna Lazaro-Flores charged?
Prosecutors allege Lazaro-Flores knew CobonGuzman had never possessed a valid driver’s license but nevertheless allowed her to drive. She is charged with knowingly engaging in conduct creating a substantial risk of death to another.
ICE Detainers Put New Jersey’s Immigration Policies Back Under Scrutiny
The case arrives in the middle of an ongoing battle between federal immigration authorities and New Jersey leaders over how much state and local governments should cooperate with ICE.
New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive limits the voluntary assistance state and local law enforcement agencies can provide for federal civil immigration enforcement. The policy was first implemented in 2018 and was codified into state law in 2026.
New Jersey officials argue those restrictions make communities safer by ensuring immigrants who are victims or witnesses of crimes are not afraid to contact local police.
The state has also pushed back against the characterization that its policy protects criminals. The Attorney General’s Office has explicitly said New Jersey is “NOT a sanctuary state to anyone who commits crimes in New Jersey.”
But the policy does restrict when local authorities can hold someone solely on an ICE civil detainer beyond the time that person would otherwise be released.
Both defendants are currently being held in the Ocean County Jail on state charges. The immediate question is therefore not whether ICE can arrest them on the street, but what happens if either woman becomes eligible for release from state custody while an immigration detainer remains active.
What does an ICE detainer mean for the two defendants?
An ICE detainer asks the custodial agency to notify federal immigration authorities before release and, under applicable circumstances, maintain custody briefly so ICE can assume custody. Whether New Jersey authorities may or must honor a particular request depends on the legal circumstances surrounding that detainer.
New Jersey Leaders Have Continued to Fight Federal Immigration Enforcement
The Jackson case lands amid months of open conflict between the Trump administration and New Jersey’s Democratic state government over immigration enforcement.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Attorney General Jennifer Davenport have challenged federal immigration initiatives in the state, including the administration’s detention plans and enforcement activity at locations New Jersey considers sensitive.
In June, Davenport announced policies for schools, hospitals, shelters, social-service offices and other locations as the state implemented its Safe Communities Act.
The Attorney General’s Office described those rules as protections against federal actions “targeting New Jersey’s immigrant communities.”
The administration’s position is almost the mirror image: DHS argues aggressive enforcement removes people who should not be in the country and prevents crimes that otherwise would not occur.
Monday’s statement puts the Jackson tragedy squarely in the middle of that dispute.
Sources: Department of Homeland Security statement; Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office; Shore News Network report on ICE detainers; New Jersey Attorney General’s Office on the Immigrant Trust Directive; New Jersey Safe Communities Act information
