Trump uses tragic death of Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson to slam Dems on immigration: ‘He would not want that’

Feb. 06--President Trump on Tuesday used the death of Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson, who was struck by a car operated by a suspected drunken driver in the country illegally, to hammer Democrats on immigration.

Indiana police said the driver, Manuel Orrega-Savala, 37, was allegedly intoxicated when he rammed his Ford F-150 into Jackson, 26, and an Uber driver standing by the side of an Indianapolis interstate.

"So disgraceful that a person illegally in our country killed @Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson," Trump tweeted. "This is just one of many such preventable tragedies. We must get the Dems to get tough on the Border, and with illegal immigration, FAST!"

But friends of Jackson said that the Atlanta native would not have wanted his death politicized.

"Absolutely not. He would not want that," Jackson's roommate Chad Bouchez told CBS News. "I don't think Edwin would have judged anyone on where they were from or anything else."

Jackson's Uber driver, Jeffrey Monroe, was also killed.

Orrego-Savala, a Guatemalan citizen, was deported from the U.S. twice, in 2007 and again in 2009.

He remained jailed Tuesday but had not been formally charged in Sunday's crash along Interstate 70.

Orrego-Savala appeared before a judge who advised him of his rights.

"I wasn't driving the car. I don't know why I am here," Orrego-Savala said through an interpreter, according to Indianapolis television station WRTV.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a statement late Monday saying he was previously convicted of driving under the influence in California, in 2005.

He also has other "misdemeanor criminal convictions and arrests in California and Indiana," ICE said.

His first court hearing is Wednesday. State police investigators are working with U.S. federal immigration officials and they have placed an immigration hold on him.

"My prayers and best wishes are with the family of Edwin Jackson, a wonderful young man whose life was so senselessly taken. @Colts," Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday.

Trump has continuously called for a crackdown on illegal immigration and often invites the families of victims killed by such undocumented immigrants to his rallies and other political events.

He points to such violent crimes as an example of why the country needs a border wall.

___

(c)2018 New York Daily News

Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.