An Illinois county board member and his wife were killed in a crash, and two illegal aliens have been charged in what should have been a preventable tragedy.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today announced it lodged an arrest for a criminal illegal alien who, while driving under the influence, killed two Illinois residents, Michael Clayton, a Coles County Board Member and his wife, Gail Clayton in a fatal car crash,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported in a press release this week.
An extended magazine, ammunition, drugs, and an open container of alcohol were reportedly found inside the crashed car, allegedly belonging to the illegal alien.
(Video Credit: WCIA News)
“Local authorities arrested the driver, Edwin Pacheco-Meza, a 34-year-old illegal alien from Honduras, and the passenger in the car, Juan Morales-Martinez, an 18-year-old illegal alien from Guatemala. Edwin Pacheco-Meza is charged with reckless homicide and driving under the influence. Juan Morales-Martinez is charged with drug possession and a weapons offense,” DHS noted.
“Following their arrests, ICE lodged a detainer with the Clark County Jail, which they ignored due to Illinois’ sanctuary policies. The jail did not cooperate with ICE due to sanctuary policies, and yet, despite this, our ICE officers waited for his release and arrested Morales-Martinez outside of the Clark County Jail on October 27,” the press release continues.
Michael Clayton and his wife, Gail Clayton were killed because criminal illegal alien, Edwin Pacheco-Meza, chose to drive under the influence.
An extended magazine, ammunition, drugs, and an open container of alcohol were found inside the illegal alien’s vehicle.@ICEgov… pic.twitter.com/2UEOnGWAiQ
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 28, 2025
While it was not known when Pacheco-Meza illegally entered the country, Morales-Martinez arrived illegally in December 2023. He was reportedly released into the U.S. by the Biden administration.
“Two innocents were killed because this criminal, illegal alien, chose to drive under the influence,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement.
“President Trump and Secretary Noem have unleashed ICE and CBP in Illinois to restore law and order and remove criminal illegal aliens from our communities,” she added. “Anyone who is in the U.S. illegally and thinks they can roam free while breaking our laws and harming Americans is in for a rude awakening. If you are in our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you, arrest you, remove you, and you will never return.”
(Video Credit: IL House GOP (ilhousegop))
“These deaths were absolutely preventable,” the Illinois House Republicans said. “We call on Gov. Pritzker to acknowledge his role in protecting illegals and the chaos it’s causing. How many more innocent citizens need to lose their lives before he wakes up?”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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