Sen. Bernie Moreno demanded answers from Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont after a 29-year-old Ohioan was killed in a crash allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant who obtained a driver's license through the state's drive-only license program.
Washington Guillermo Naula-Ochoa, a 34-year-old Ecuadoran national, allegedly failed to yield at a stop sign at the intersection of State Route 66 in Fulton County, Ohio, on August 29 and pulled into oncoming traffic. His 2024 Ram 3500 struck a 1993 GMC Suburban driven by Austin J. Karr Grimes, 29, of Fayette, Ohio. Grimes lost control, went partially off the roadway, and overturned. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two passengers in Grimes' vehicle suffered minor injuries. Two passengers in Naula-Ochoa's truck were uninjured. The Ohio State Highway Patrol charged Naula-Ochoa with vehicular manslaughter and failing to yield at a stop sign. Federal authorities lodged an immigration detainer against him, and booking records at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio list him as "homeless."
That a man unlawfully present in the United States was behind the wheel at all, carrying a license issued by a state hundreds of miles from the crash, is the center of the dispute now playing out between Moreno and Lamont.
Moreno fired the first public shot Tuesday night, posting on X with a formal letter to Lamont attached. Fox News Digital reported on the exchange and the crash details behind it.
In his post, Moreno laid out the core of his argument:
"My office has learned that an illegal alien granted a drivers license by the state of Connecticut killed a 29 year old Ohioan in a reckless driving accident. While one death alone is an inexcusable tragedy, Connecticut has granted over 60,000 such licenses to illegal aliens, putting countless Americans at risk on the roads. This insanity has to stop."
The letter itself went further. Moreno wrote that Connecticut "not only permits illegal aliens to receive a driver's license, but encourages it, all while Americans pay the ultimate price." He told Lamont directly: "Quite simply, your policies are killing my constituents."
Moreno called on Lamont to apologize for the state's role in the crash and to provide specific answers: how many drive-only licenses Connecticut has issued to people unlawfully present, how many of those recipients have committed crimes, how many have registered to vote or cast ballots, and how much the program has cost taxpayers.
He also took aim at a 2024 proposal from Lamont to remove the "drive-only" marking from the licenses entirely. Lamont had said the change would protect Connecticut residents from discrimination in other states. Moreno framed the proposal as an effort to further obscure the immigration status of license holders.
"You should be ashamed of this policy and its dangerous consequences, yet your support for illegal aliens knows no bounds."
Moreno urged Lamont to join what he called the "vast majority of states" that require lawful presence before issuing a driver's license, "before another American citizen becomes the victim of vehicular manslaughter or is gravely injured by an illegal alien."
Lamont responded with a statement to Fox News Digital that expressed sympathy but defended the policy on practical grounds.
"My heart goes out to the family and friends of Austin J. Karr Grimes, and to all families who lose a loved one to a motor vehicle accident. Drivers must be held accountable for violating traffic laws, especially when it causes a tragic loss of life."
On the license program itself, Lamont argued that drive-only licenses exist to bring illegal immigrants into a regulated system. He said the program "reduces hit-and-run accidents and brings more drivers into the insurance system who might otherwise be driving uninsured." He added that illegal immigrants in many states "already need to drive for work, school, and daily life" and that "it's safer for everyone when that driving happens within a regulated system."
The governor did not address Moreno's specific questions about how many licenses have been issued, how many recipients have committed crimes, or whether any have registered to vote. He did not apologize.
Moreno responded to Lamont's statement on Thursday with a second post on X that rejected the governor's safety rationale outright:
"The answer to the presence of illegal aliens is NOT to 'train them' and allow them on our roads to wreak havoc. The answer is to DEPORT them! Of course, Democrat politicians know this, but need a crop of dependent and obedient voters to keep them in power."
A DHS spokesperson confirmed the ICE detainer against Naula-Ochoa and framed the case as part of the administration's broader enforcement posture. "The safest way to arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our streets is by lodging arrest detainers," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. The spokesperson added that seven of the ten safest cities in the country cooperate with ICE, and warned: "If you come into our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you."
Connecticut's drive-only license program allows individuals who cannot prove lawful presence in the United States or provide a Social Security number to obtain a license for driving purposes. Moreno's office cited a figure of more than 60,000 such licenses issued to illegal immigrants. The source for that number was not identified beyond Moreno's own post.
Connecticut is not alone. The Department of Justice sued New York in 2025 over its "Green Light Law," which allows illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses while barring the state from sharing DMV records with federal immigration authorities. The Trump administration has expanded ICE enforcement against criminal illegal immigrants, pushing the position that local arrests should trigger federal immigration action.
Lamont's 2024 proposal to strip the "drive-only" label from the licenses would have made them visually indistinguishable from standard licenses. He said the marking exposed holders to discrimination. Critics like Moreno see the proposal as part of a pattern, making it easier for people unlawfully present in the country to blend into systems designed for citizens and lawful residents.
Mehek Cooke, a GOP strategist and attorney in Ohio, put the political dynamic in blunt terms in a statement to Fox News Digital:
"What is especially infuriating is that Connecticut Democrats get to congratulate themselves for being compassionate, while an Ohio family is left grieving the loss of 29-year-old Austin Karr Grimes. Connecticut made the policy choice, but Americans hundreds of miles away paid the price."
Cooke added: "There is nothing compassionate about a policy that puts the interests of illegal immigrants ahead of the lives and safety of American citizens."
Naula-Ochoa remains in custody at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio with the ICE detainer in place. Whether he has entered a plea to the vehicular manslaughter charge, or whether removal proceedings have begun, remains unclear from available information.
Austin Karr Grimes was 29 years old, driving through his home county on a Friday afternoon. A man who should not have been in the country, carrying a license issued by a state he did not live in, ran a stop sign and ended his life. Lamont calls the program that made it possible a safety measure. The Grimes family knows better.
