What to know about ICE in Georgia and fatal Savannah car crash

SAVANNAH ― A fatal vehicle crash involving a man facing deportation and federal immigration agents has again centered Georgia in the debate over how the Department of Homeland Security conducts operations.

On Monday, Oscar Vasquez Lopez fled an attempted traffic stop initiated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers driving unmarked vehicles. Lopez sped along Savannah streets, with the ICE agents in pursuit, until colliding with another car driven by a schoolteacher at a busy intersection.

The teacher, Linda Davis of Savannah, died as a result of the crash.

The Savannah community has responded by mourning the loss of Davis, expressing anger over Lopez’s decision to drive so recklessly and questioning ICE’s tactics and whether they endanger public safety.

Linda Davis taught special education at Hesse K-8 School in Savanah. She was killed Monday in an automobile accident involving a Guatemalan man who was fleeing federal immigration agents and ran a red light, colliding with Davis' car. (Courtesy of Savannah-Chatham County Public School System)

The incident comes as the Department of Homeland Security works to open two, large-scale immigration detention centers in the state and as Georgians join Americans across the country in demonstrating against recent ICE-involved killings of protesters, both American citizens, in Minneapolis.

President Donald Trump, a vocal proponent of strict immigration enforcement, focused instead on the 2020 election and the economy during his visit to northwest Georgia on Thursday.

Here’s what to know about ICE activities in Georgia.

How active is ICE in Georgia?

Georgia ranked fourth nationally in immigration-related arrests as of Oct. 15, 2025, according to federal immigration data. The 8,500 arrests trailed only Texas, Florida and California.

Savannah has a significant immigrant population and has been the scene of several ICE operations over the past year.

Last June, ICE partnered with a Savannah-area law enforcement agency, the Chatham County Police Department, in a one-day operation that resulted in at least eight arrests. In September, a sweeping operation at the Hyundai Metaplant electric vehicle campus near Savannah led to 475 people being detained, more than 300 of them Korean nationals.

Other areas of the state have also seen activity. A broad sweep in December in Dalton, home to one of the state’s largest Hispanic communities, in northwest Georgia resulted in about 40 arrests.

ICE is expanding its presence in the state. The agency opened a satellite field office last month in College Park in metro Atlanta and is converting warehouses into detention centers in Social Circle, 50 miles east of Atlanta, and Jefferson, 60 miles northeast of Atlanta. There are existing immigrant detention centers in Lumpkin, near the Georgia-Alabama border, and Folkston, near the Georgia-Florida border.

What happened in the Savannah car crash?

According to the Department of Homeland Security, agents were surveilling Lopez’s neighborhood when they observed him enter his vehicle, a red pickup truck, and drive away shortly after 7 a.m. on Feb. 16.

The officers followed and attempted to initiate a traffic stop. According to DHS, Lopez initially complied before performing an illegal U-turn and fleeing in the other direction. Dashboard camera footage obtained by a local TV station, WTOC, shows the start of the chase, with Lopez’s truck pulling the U-turn and speeding off in the other direction.

School security cameras captured Lopez and the agents speeding past a few moments later near the scene of the accident. The teacher killed, Linda Davis, was turning left at a stoplight off a highway off-ramp when she was struck by Lopez.

Another vehicle was damaged in the wreck but its occupants were unharmed. Another driver, Kate Oakley, was driving in the lane next to Davis and said Davis’ car shielded her vehicle from the crash. Oakley is eight months pregnant and had her 3-year-old toddler strapped into the seat behind her’s.

“If she (Davis) hadn’t been there, he (Lopez) would have hit the driver side of my car, and I’d have lost everything,” Oakley said. “She didn’t just die. She died saving people.”

What to know about Oscar Vasquez Lopez

The 38-year-old Guatemalan national was ordered to leave the country by a federal judge in 2024 after illegally entering the country at an undisclosed time and place, according to DHS.

Lopez is charged with vehicular homicide and several traffic violations stemming from Monday’s incident. He made his first court appearance Tuesday before a county Recorder’s Court judge, participating by video conference from the Chatham County Detention Center, where he is being held. The judge did not set bond.

Lopez’s wife spoke to a Savannah TV station, WJCL, and said the couple had lived in the city for about a month. They previously lived in Bluffton, South Carolina, about a 30-minute drive from downtown Savannah. She said her husband left home early Monday morning to gather construction supplies.

She described Lopez as “a good person, loving, very affectionate, hardworking.”

He has no prior criminal record in Georgia or South Carolina.

What to know about Linda Davis

The 52-year-old Savannah-area resident taught special education to kindergartners and first graders at Hesse K-8 School a quarter-mile from where the accident happened. She was en route to the school when she was struck by Lopez.

Davis’ cousin, Betty Smoot-Madison, on Wednesday posted a LinkedIn message on behalf of the family saying they are “heartbroken and devastated by the senseless killing.”

Davis began teaching in Savannah in 2022, working with elementary school students. Hesse’s principal, Alonna McMullen, noted Davis’ success at creating a nurturing environment for students. Around her teaching peers, Davis was a positive influence who was quick to offer encouragement, McMullen said.

“Dr. Davis was an exceptional educator whose dedication to her students made a lasting impact at Hesse K8,” McMullen said. “She believed wholeheartedly in her students’ abilities and worked tirelessly to support their success.”

What else to know about the vehicle pursuit

The ICE operation was conducted without the assistance of local or state law enforcement. Federal agents are not permitted to stop drivers for traffic infractions but can attempt to detain targeted individuals. The agency uses the term “at-large” arrests for apprehension of immigrants in courthouses, on sides of roads, or at homes and workplaces.

As for the car chase, published federal standards state agents can pursue fleeing vehicles in unmarked cars equipped with emergency lights and sirens. However, a 2023 report by the Department of Justice discouraged the practice, citing safety concerns.

The fatal traffic accident is at least the third involving ICE actions in the last year in the U.S. In the other two, those fleeing federal agents were the ones killed. Two non-lethal crashes related to ICE chases occurred in Providence, Rhode Island, in 2025 as well.

The Savannah area’s two largest local law enforcement agencies, the Savannah Police Department and Chatham County Police Department, only pursue suspects in instances involving violent crimes — and then will call off a chase if it is deemed unsafe to bystanders. Chatham Police Chief Jeff Hadley said law enforcement has a duty to apprehend suspects in ways that minimize risk to officers and community members.

Reaction of elected officials from Savannah

Savannah elected officials expressed frustration with ICE’s conduct, particularly the federal agency’s failure to communicate with local law enforcement about their operation.

“It appears or seems that federal agencies either don’t care, don’t have a propensity to care about the local community,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, a Democrat, said.

A Savannah Democratic state lawmaker, Sen. Derek Mallow, called for “review and accountability” for the chase.

“Federal immigration enforcement actions, including pursuits, can create dangerous conditions on our local roads. ICE and DHS are not trained for routine traffic stops, and operations that put innocent lives at risk demand serious review and accountability,” Mallow said.