Georgia Rep Buddy Carter calls for ICE surge after Savannah teacher’s death

A Georgia congressman has called for an influx of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents into his state after a teacher was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant fleeing law enforcement.

“This is truly a tragedy,” Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital. “This is something that should never have happened.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Oscar Vasquez Lopez, a special education teacher at a K-8 school in Savannah, Ga., was killed when he ran a red light while trying to leave the scene of an ICE operation earlier this month.

DHS said Vasquez Lopez is “a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala who has been ordered deported by a federal judge for final deportation in 2024.”

Carter, who has previously called for more ICE agents in Georgia’s capital, said he believes having more federal agents throughout the Peach State could help prevent such tragedies in the future.

“I have already called for more ICE agents to be in Atlanta, and now I am calling for more ICE agents throughout the state of Georgia,” Carter said. “Listen, this is serious. We need to get rid of the criminal illegal immigrants in this country. We’ll deal with the others later.”

Carter cited reports claiming that approximately 500,000 illegal immigrants reside in Georgia.

Guatemalan national Oscar Vasquez Lopez faces murder charges for allegedly killing a teacher in Savannah, Georgia, while fleeing ICE. (Department of Homeland Security)

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“It would be naive to think that some of these are not illegal immigrants,” he said.

DHS said Vasquez Lopez was charged with vehicular homicide by the Chatham County Police Department following the fatal collision in which he suffered “minor injuries.”

The department said ICE agents attempted a traffic stop after Vasquez Lopez “initially complied,” but he then fled, made an illegal U-turn and ran a red light before crashing into the teacher’s car.

President Donald Trump listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

Tensions over ICE reached extremely high levels following President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration in Minneapolis; That recently ended after the administration rushed federal officials to the Midwestern city to call for their retreat.

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Last month, a U.S. citizen was shot and killed by ICE agents as he tried to leave the demonstration site, but was charged by the federal government with trying to hit one of the agents with his car while fleeing.

Weeks later, a second U.S. citizen was killed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents while recording them during a separate anti-ICE demonstration.

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