A drag racing track in Orlando, Florida, is mourning the loss of a 7-year-old girl who died from injuries sustained in an accident over the weekend.

Elienisse Zoe Díaz Rodriguez died on Tuesday after an accident during a race at the Orlando Speed World Dragway on Sunday. Her family said on a GoFundMe account that she fought “for her life” for two days before she was declared brain-dead at 10:54 p.m. on Tuesday.

Orange County Fire Rescue received 911 reports of an accident between a car and a person at the Orlando Speed World track at 11:20 a.m. on Sunday.

Rodriguez was racing her Junior Dragster racecar when she lost control of it, striking a 34-year-old safety guide employee before crashing into a concrete wall, according to Florida Highway Patrol. The employee was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

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In a post on Facebook, the Orlando speedway said it is “deeply heartbroken” by the “tragic incident,” offering “thoughts and prayers” to the little girl’s loved ones and the racing community, in general.

“Motorsports is built on passion, but moments like these remind us of the risks that come with what we love. While injuries can heal, the pain of loss is immeasurable,” the post said, in part. 

It concluded: “We stand together in support, mourning, and prayer during this difficult time. We extend our deepest condolences to those grieving and will continue to uplift them in our thoughts.”

Orange County Fire Rescue responded to an accident between a racing car and a person at the Orlando Speed World track at 11:20 a.m. on Sunday. (Orlando Speed World Dragway/Facebook)

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Rodriguez was a first-grade student at Eastland Christian School in Orlando, according to FOX 35, and was described as bright and beautiful by school officials.

“She was a bright light in our school community, and we are thankful for the time we had with her. Her beautiful smile will be deeply missed by all of us,” the school said in a statement. “We will hold Elienisse’s memory close to our hearts. Thank you for your understanding and support as we come together to mourn this loss and remember the joy she brought to all of us.”

The 7-year-old junior drag racer was declared brain-dead on Tuesday, two days after her accident at the Orlando Speed World Dragway. (Orlando Speed World Dragway/Facebook)

As of early Friday morning, the GoFundMe account set up to help the family pay for funeral costs had more than $25,300 in donations.

Gov. Ron DeSantis last week signed an agreement that could soon deputize Florida Highway Patrol officers to perform the functions of federal immigration officers, and the head of a union representing the majority of troopers has concerns about the decision. 

DeSantis held a series of discussions with law enforcement officials and Floridians affected by illegal immigration Jan. 29 about new legislation needed in the state to assist the Trump administration in countering illegal immigration, the governor’s office said in a statement.

He signed a memorandum between the Florida Highway Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), giving troopers the authority to exercise immigration power.

“Governor DeSantis understands the role of law enforcement and wants to provide the strongest immigration law possible, empowering law enforcement to get to work and deport illegal aliens residing in the state,” Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner said in a statement with DeSantis’ announcement.

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“Troopers are going to do what they’re told to do. … We’re going to become the tip of the spear,” William Smith, president of the Florida Highway Patrol chapter of Florida’s Police Benevolent Association, told Fox News Digital. “But it would be nice to know that … we have additional funding.”

The latest memorandum comes as DeSantis also criticized a new immigration reform bill passed by the Florida Legislature.

“The bill the Florida Legislature passed … fails to honor our promises to voters, fails to meet the moment and would actually weaken state immigration enforcement,” the governor said at a press conference.

“We must have the strongest law in the nation on immigration enforcement that will guarantee state and local deportation assistance, end catch and release, eliminate magnets such as remittances and adopt supporting policies that will protect Floridians.”

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DeSantis wants to mandate that counties and cities participate in the federal deportation program and pushed for the authority to suspend officials who do not comply. He also wanted to make it a state crime to enter the U.S. illegally and require that people show identification and their immigration status before sending money back home.

The legislature’s immigration priorities have included a mandatory death penalty for an illegal immigrant convicted of a capital offense, enhancing sentences for illegal immigrant gang members, expanding shared intelligence among law enforcement agencies, strengthening enforcement of public officials’ compliance with state law banning sanctuary jurisdictions and financial incentives for training law enforcement officers who help ICE task forces.

Fox News Digital reached out to ICE and DeSantis’ office for comment.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers remarks at the 2023 Christians United for Israel summit July 17, 2023, in Arlington, Va.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“What’s going on with the Legislature and the governor right now … we’re almost caught in the middle,” Smith said. “There’s no additional funding to pay for those additional duties. … You know, it’s easy to sign a piece of paper and say, ‘we’re going to have troopers do that now.’ OK, well, are you going to pay me more money?”

Smith, who has served as a trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol for 41 years, stands by a need for immigration reform, but he believes the agency has already been underfunded for years and does not have enough money to operate. 

“Our concern moving forward is we need to increase our pay. … The troopers and the folks that do the job every day … they need to know that they can still put food on the table and be able to buy a house and raise some kids and things of that nature,” he said. “Because, right now, a trooper at starting pay is a permanent apartment dweller.”

In the upcoming 2025-2026 budget, Smith said, the department is asking the Legislature for $12.9 million to raise pay and hire more troopers, whose starting pay is about $54,000. He explained that for the agency to be fully funded, it will need about $27 million. 

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Migrants walk into Mexico after being deported from the U.S. at El Chaparral pedestrian border bridge in Tijuana, Mexico, Jan. 21, 2025. (Felix Marquez/AP)

After DeSantis signed the memorandum, Smith disclosed that he was left with “more questions than answers.”

“There hasn’t been any guidance … from the governor’s office about what our role will be, what the training will be,” he said. “How many troopers does he want to assign to this?”

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Smith said there are nearly 150 trooper vacancies on the highway patrol right now and that the governor wants to cut 25 trooper positions.

“It’s like taking a step forward and two steps back,” Smith added. 

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX – NEW ORLEANS – In the aftermath of the Jan. 1 terrorist attack on Bourbon Street and between major tourist-heavy events in New Orleans, officials with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are preparing to combat any potential threats during Super Bowl LIX.

HSI was the lead agency initially assigned to coordinate security for the Super Bowl, and preparations began about a year ago, Eric DeLaune, special agent in charge for HSI in New Orleans, told Fox News Digital.

“New Orleans has some unique challenges. The area here is a little more spread out for a Super Bowl,” DeLaune, lead federal coordinator for Super Bowl LIX, said. “The elephant in the room is the attack that occurred on Jan. 1. We would be foolish if we didn’t use what we’ve learned from that to inform how we go forward and how we adapt plans … to make sure we can account for gaps and alternative locations that may be of concern now in that post-attack timeline.”

Just over a month before the Super Bowl, in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar plowed a pickup truck through crowds of people celebrating the holiday on Bourbon Street, killing 14 civilians and injuring 57 others. New Orleans police officers fatally shot Jabbar when he exchanged gunfire with officers.

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DeLaune has doubled his request for “tactical resources and assets” from the Department of Homeland Security since the attack.

“We’re going to have a significantly larger presence here in New Orleans in the way of tactical teams and also just special agents working in the area. People who are going to the game or going to the special events associated with the Super Bowl will see a much larger presence of HSI special agents and of HSI tactical assets, as well, walking around downtown, the French Quarter,” he said.

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The Homeland Security Investigations SRT team performs drills at Octavio “Ox” Gonzales SRT  Complex in LaPlace, La., Jan. 15, 2025. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

President Donald Trump is expected to be in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX. DeLaune said the president’s visit doesn’t fundamentally change the agency’s security plans, but Secret Service will be working with state and local counterparts. Trump’s anticipated attendance will actually enhance security in the city because of the inclusion of more federal law enforcement personnel, he explained.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem visited New Orleans Monday and told reporters there have been “no credible threats” targeting Super Bowl LIX. 

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Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem speaks during a news conference Feb. 3, 2025, about security for Sunday’s Super Bowl in New Orleans. (Gerald Herbert)

A Justice Department official also confirmed to Fox News Thursday that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi would travel to New Orleans on her first day in office to survey security for the upcoming game with Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.

A team of HSI agents based in nine states across the Southeast, which regularly responds to high-risk criminal activity, trains for specific threat scenarios about 16 hours every month.

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A team of HSI officers based in nine states across the Southeast, which regularly responds to high-risk criminal activity, trains for specific threat scenarios about 16 hours every month. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

In mid-January, the federal agency’s Special Response Team (SRT) trained at the St. John’s Parish SWAT center near New Orleans about a month ahead of Super Bowl LIX and two weeks after the ISIS-inspired terrorist attack on Bourbon Street.

While the SRT officers train every month, they added specific threat scenarios in January that they might encounter as the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to the Big Easy.

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While the SRT officers train every month, they added specific threat scenarios in January that they might encounter as the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras draw thousands of tourists to the Big Easy. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

The SRT walked Fox News Digital through its training operations, during which officers conduct mock operations for scenarios, such as serving a search warrant, rescuing a hostage and responding to a suspicious vehicle or suspicious person in a crowd.

The team is typically deployed to respond to high-risk targets, including suspects who have an extensive criminal history, are hiding in a fortified building, are experiencing mental instability or are gang members.

In the hostage rescue scenario that Fox News Digital participated in by acting as a “victim,” officers responded to a hypothetical call for help, entered the training center, deployed a flashbang, shot a “suspect” dummy with simulation rounds and rescued the “victim.” 

The SRT walked Fox News Digital through its training operations during which officers conduct mock operations for scenarios, such as serving a search warrant, rescuing a hostage and responding to a suspicious vehicle or suspicious person in a crowd. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

The center is set up to resemble a home or building officers might enter during a response.

“For the most part, our special agents are just that. … They’re criminal investigators. We investigate long-term, complex criminal investigations in organizations.”

— SAC Eric DeLaune

“They are law enforcement. They’re not police, but they [are all] law enforcement,” DeLaune said. “We’re trained to deal with an active weapon threat. We’re trained to deal with mass casualty events. And we’re trained to deal with medical emergencies to an extent. So, those agents are prepared to go out there and work with our state and local partners and support them.”

Exterior view of the Octavio “Ox” Gonzales SWAT Complex where the Homeland Security Investigations SRT team perform drills in LaPlace, La., Jan. 15, 2025. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

During training operations, HSI officers wear full tactical gear, including helmets, multiple first-aid kits, bullet-proof vests, microphones and training magazines, which are the same guns officers use regularly. But they are converted to fire simulation rounds during training, the team explained to Fox News Digital.

The SRT also showed Fox News Digital how officers use drones and cameras extended on long poles to search inside threat areas before entering.

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A Homeland Security Investigations SRT Team vehicle is being used in drills in LaPlace, La., Jan. 15, 2025. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

In the search warrant scenario, the SRT demonstrated how officers would arrive in a BearCat vehicle and make their presence known at a location before shooting pepper balls at an entrance, instead of physically knocking on an entrance, to protect officers and civilians. Officers would then enter and search each room at the location for threats or victims.

The SRT officers described themselves as a family because of how much time they spend working together, typically away from their homes and real families. The team spends an average of three weeks out of every month together. 

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The SRT officers described themselves as a family because of how much time they spend working together. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

The Jan. 1 attack was “a pretty painful experience for” HSI New Orleans agents, DeLaune said. 

“That weighs heavily on the minds of our people here, but they’re committed … to providing a safe and secure atmosphere for the Super Bowl. And they’re committed to providing a safe and secure atmosphere for Mardi Gras, which is unique to us,” DeLaune explained, adding that HSI New Orleans is comprised of a lot of locals and Louisiana natives. 

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Matthias Hauswirth of New Orleans prays on the street near the location where a terrorist drove into a crowd at New Orleans’ Canal and Bourbon streets Jan. 1, 2025.  (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

“They have an emotional personal investment here in the city and in traditions such as Mardi Gras and in supporting big events such as the Super Bowl. So, there’s a lot of pride here for these agents, and they’re getting the work done every day,” he said.

DeLaune also had a message for the public ahead of the Super Bowl.

“Don’t hold on to it, and don’t be embarrassed to report something,” he said. “Don’t dismiss your instincts. If there’s something that’s not right, let us know. Let us decide whether or not it’s something to be concerned about.”

Authorities patrol Bourbon Street after it reopened in New Orleans Jan. 2, 2025, after the deadly New Year’s attack. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

The FBI continues to investigate the terrorist attack that left 15 people dead on Jan. 1, including the perpetrator.

Federal authorities said Jabbar had previously visited New Orleans twice, once on Oct. 30, 2024, and once on Nov. 10, 2024. He also visited Cairo and Toronto prior to the attack, the FBI said.

While Jabbar apparently acted alone, authorities are investigating whether he had any accomplices.