Father of Slain Marine Blasts Third Deportation for Killer
A U.S. Marine's father criticized immigration enforcement after a Mexican national deported three times was arrested again following a 2017 hit-and-run that killed his son.
The father of a US Marine killed by an illegal immigrant who has been deported three times is calling out lax immigration enforcement and praising the Trump administration’s commitment to border security.
Martin Martinez-Ballinas, a 38-year-old Mexican national, was taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on July 22 following his release from federal prison for illegal reentry. This marks his third deportation, according to federal authorities, as reported by New York Post.
Martinez-Ballinas was convicted in a 2017 hit-and-run crash in Maryland that killed 21-year-old US Marine James Ray Walden III, who was riding his motorcycle at the time.
After his first deportation in 2020, Martinez-Ballinas was apprehended attempting to illegally cross the border in Texas in 2021. He received a 15-month prison sentence for that violation. ICE removed him a second time in October 2022, but he managed to reenter the country undetected — a failure authorities attribute to the Biden administration’s border policies. Federal agents eventually arrested him in Maryland in December 2023, and ICE took custody after he completed his most recent federal prison sentence in New Jersey.
James Walden, the Marine’s father, revealed that Martinez-Ballinas was driving without a license or insurance when he crossed into the oncoming lane and struck his son’s motorcycle head-on in the fatal 2017 crash.
Repeated Arrests Before Deadly Crash
Walden said he later discovered that Maryland officials were aware Martinez-Ballinas was in the country illegally and that he had been arrested five times between 2012 and 2017, yet was released each time. This pattern of catch-and-release proved fatal for his son.
Speaking on “The Will Cain Show” on Friday, Walden remembered his son as a highly accomplished Marine and intelligence analyst whose promising future was stolen. The younger Walden worked for the National Security Agency as a crypto analyst, and his supervisor described him as one of the most gifted analysts he had ever worked with. The NSA had hoped to recruit him after his Marine Corps service.
“My son was 21 years old. He was just starting his life,” Walden said. And all that ended in the blink of an eye.
Defending ICE Against Democrat Calls for Abolition
The grieving father strongly criticized Democratic lawmakers who have called for abolishing ICE, describing the proposal as one of the most insane ideas he’d ever heard. He defended immigration enforcement agents for simply doing their jobs and enforcing laws passed by Congress.
When asked what message he had for politicians seeking to eliminate the agency, Walden emphasized that his son’s death demonstrates why immigration enforcement remains essential. He warned that anyone could become a victim of illegal immigration crimes and stressed that while such tragedies cannot be predicted, they can be prevented through proper enforcement.
Walden credited President Donald Trump for prioritizing immigration enforcement and keeping his campaign promises. He expressed his belief that Trump will be remembered as one of the greatest presidents in the country’s history for standing by his commitments and following through on what he said he would do.
With information from New York Post
