If it wasn’t for Good Samaritans, Pastor Tony Bartolucci and his 14-year-old daughter would have likely died on Christmas Eve.

The family members were involved in a fiery crash that Monroe County, New York police say was caused by Efrain Lopez-Contreras, a previously deported illegal alien.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department says Contreras was driving in excess of 100 miles per hour and crashed into Bartolucci head-on after crossing the center line.

The father and daughter were unconscious when they were pulled from the burning vehicle. Contreras allegedly attempted to flee the scene.

“First, we saw a man in there,” Vitaliy Basisti says, who helped rescue them, according to WHEC.

“And we had to go to the driver side, pulled him out by his legs. And then there was a girl in the passenger side. And then we tried to pull her out; she was trapped. Her seatbelt was on so I asked for a knife, cut it open. We had to rip the door open and get her out of there as fast as we could.”

“It took about four people to get the pastor out of the car,” says Tracy Brugger, another rescuer. “It was definitely a group effort. If we hadn’t been there I’m not sure if the outcome would’ve been the same.”

Contreras was apprehended and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Now it’s revealed he was previously deported in 2010 “after a series of crimes” in Orleans County, New York. At that time, he was charged with 21 traffic violations.

“Here’s a man who has been in this country multiple times illegally, been deported at least twice we now find out,” Gates Town Supervisor Mark Assini Assini tells News 10. “And every time it’s been a bad ending for the people around him.”

The victims are still recovering, according to Bartolucci’s father.

“My son’s daughter Gianna is in such bad shape with a broken neck, arms, leg concussion, everything,” Al Bartolucci says. “So I don’t know what the laws are in New York and what they will do with this man, but he should not be out of jail.”

As for illegal immigration, Bartolucci says, “It’s like a cancer. If you let it spread and nothing is done, it gets worse. That’s the situation that happens with illegals coming over the border– only going to get worse.”