Sanctuary Policies Prioritize Undocumented Immigrants Over Citizen Victims Like Carissa Aspnes
Source: "Patricia Fox testifies on sanctuary policy costs and Colorado Medicaid | Fox News." September 1, 2026. www.foxnews.com
The Gist
The author argues that sanctuary city policies, often praised as compassionate, actually cause severe harm to American citizens by allowing undocumented immigrants without legal driving privileges to remain in communities and cause life-altering accidents. Using the story of Patricia Fox's daughter Carissa, who was permanently disabled by a hit-and-run driver who was in the country illegally, the author contends that these policies fail victims twice: first by enabling the harm, and second by prioritizing government healthcare spending on undocumented immigrants over basic medical support for injured citizens.
Conclusion
Sanctuary city and state policies impose severe, unjust costs on citizen victims by allowing undocumented immigrants to remain in communities and drive without legal status, while state resources are simultaneously directed toward healthcare for undocumented immigrants rather than adequate care for citizen victims harmed by them.
Premises
- Carissa Aspnes, a 22-year-old American citizen, was permanently disabled by an illegal immigrant driver who fled the scene without checking if she survived
- Colorado's sanctuary policies allowed the perpetrator to be driving despite having no legal right to be in the country or behind the wheel
- The perpetrator received minimal legal consequences (a single reduced felony charge and $15,000 restitution only for property damage), while Carissa received no compensation for her life-altering injuries
- Colorado Medicaid denied Carissa in-home nursing care and a necessary wheelchair, forcing her mother to provide extensive unpaid caregiving alone
- Colorado allocated approximately $127 million to a program providing healthcare to people without legal immigration status, while a citizen victim struggles to get basic medical equipment and nursing care
- The family was deported the perpetrator only through their own efforts contacting ICE's VOICE office, suggesting inadequate systemic support for victims
- Carissa's case is not isolated, implying a pattern of similar harms caused by sanctuary policies (referencing other Angel Families)
Assumptions
- Sanctuary policies are a direct causal factor in enabling this crime and the offender's ability to drive/remain in the community
- The allocation of state healthcare funds to undocumented immigrants directly competes with or reduces resources available for citizen victims like Carissa
- The Medicaid denials Carissa faced are linked to or emblematic of broader sanctuary policy priorities rather than separate bureaucratic/insurance issues common to many disability cases
- The legal outcome (reduced charges, minimal restitution) is attributable to sanctuary policies rather than separate issues in the criminal justice/plea bargaining system
- One family's experience is generalizable to demonstrate a systemic problem with sanctuary policies nationally
- The compassionate framing of sanctuary policies by their supporters is disingenuous or incomplete because it ignores costs to citizen victims