An ICE agent hunted down Miguel Parra-Hernandez in Harris County
By Alma Cordero · Reporting from El Paso ·
After an ICE agent ran down Miguel Parra-Hernandez in a Texas parking lot, federal officials blamed the victim, showing the reckless cruelty of an agency that operates without accountability.
When an unmarked SUV becomes a weapon against a worker in a strip mall parking lot
On a Saturday morning in northwest Harris County, Texas, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent did not just pursue a suspect. He hunted a man down with a multi-thousand-pound vehicle. Miguel Parra-Hernandez, a 48-year-old worker from Mexico, was working toward obtaining citizenship. He found himself caught in the machinery of an agency that operates with reckless disregard for human life. According to reports from ABC13 Houston and The Guardian, agents attempted to pull over Jose Mendoza-Cervantes near Clay Road. The target and Parra-Hernandez exited a white pickup truck and fled on foot. An ICE agent in an unmarked black SUV did not stop to evaluate the scene. Surveillance video shows the vehicle veering left through empty parking spaces. It jumped the geometry of safety and ran Parra-Hernandez down as he tried to escape. A witness heard the horror in the man's voice as he cried out, "Ah! Ah! Ah! You broke my leg! You broke my leg!" He suffered broken bones in both legs. He required heavy sedation and extensive surgery while remaining shackled in ICE custody at a hospital.
The agency responsible for this violence immediately retreated to its playbook of evasion and victim-blaming. In statements reported by CNN and FOX 26 Houston, ICE claimed that "Parra-Hernandez ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck." This is the oldest trick in the law enforcement playbook. Enforcers take an act of aggression and recast it as the fault of the bleeding body beneath the tires. It echoes the exact mechanism seen in the Death of George Floyd, where state agents deployed lethal or debilitating force against a marginalized person. The Guardian notes that more than 30 people died during interactions with immigration officials. This violence is part of an escalation across the country. In the Bronx, ICE agents shot and wounded a driver while a child sat in the back seat. Agents carried out fatal shootings in Houston and Maine, and an agent opened fire in Austin. The Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Markwayne Mullin treats American streets as an occupied war zone. Federal officers operate behind tinted windows and unidentifiable badges. They leave local communities to pick up the broken bones and bury the dead.
Local officials demand answers while federal enforcers hide behind internal excuses
The arrogance of these operations is compounded by the destruction of accountability after the crash. Major Anthony McConnell of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office stated that ICE agents moved the white pickup truck before local deputies arrived. They tampered with the evidentiary integrity of a crime scene. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney Sean Teare are conducting an independent investigation into the crash. Yet ICE refuses to state whether the pursuit complied with agency policy. The agency also refuses to confirm whether it knew Parra-Hernandez's immigration status before the collision. This institutional lawlessness is precisely why local leaders are furious. Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones condemned the agency on FOX 26 Houston. Briones stated, "Under the Trump administration, ICE has brought chaos and destruction to communities across our country. ICE must cooperate fully with the Harris County Sheriff's Office and release all video evidence of this incident." Rep. Sylvia Garcia echoed this outrage on X. Garcia noted that ICE has lied before and brought chaos to Houston neighborhoods. Even more damning is an internal ICE memo obtained by ABC News, dated September 30. The memo explicitly states that officers are not authorized to engage in vehicle pursuits or use precision immobilization techniques against vehicles that fail to pull over. Headquarters told agents to back off from dangerous car chases. Days later, an agent in a Harris County strip mall used his SUV as a battering ram against a pedestrian.
To defend the indefensible, agency spokespeople attempt to shift the blame to elected officials. They issue press releases citing politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Dan Goldman, Mayor Karen Bass, and Governor Gavin Newsom for providing resources on how to know your rights. This deflection distracts from the fact that an armed federal agent broke a man's legs in broad daylight. Dr. Greg Fremin, a retired Houston Police Department officer who teaches criminal justice at the University of Houston-Downtown, spoke to ABC13 Houston. Fremin expressed serious concerns about footage showing the vehicle veering directly into the pedestrian. Yet the Department of Homeland Security continues to stonewall. Officials withhold the name of the driver. They refuse to confirm whether he wore the body-worn camera required by ICE policy. Federal agents maimed a worker who spent decades building a life here. Now they attempt to spirit him into deportation proceedings before local courts can examine the evidence. The rule of law becomes a cruel joke played on the vulnerable.
Justice requires full prosecution of the driver and an immediate end to vehicular raids
Federal authorities will likely attempt to stonewall local investigators by refusing to disclose the name of the driver. They will cite internal security exemptions. They will try to fast-track Parra-Hernandez for deportation while he recovers from surgery, silencing a primary witness. We must not allow this bureaucratic erasure to succeed. Justice requires the Department of Homeland Security to immediately release all body-worn camera footage and dashcam videos. Justice requires the full criminal prosecution of the ICE agent who drove the vehicle. Justice requires humanitarian relief that keeps Parra-Hernandez safely in the country to testify and heal. The border is not a combat zone. The working people of Harris County are not enemy combatants to be run down in parking lots by federal thugs with badges.
Sources
- ABC7 Los Angeles: ICE agent strikes man with car during pursuit in Texas, authorities say: VIDEO
- ABC13 Houston: Man run over by ICE SUV during pursuit recovering with both legs broken, family says
- Click2Houston: Man hospitalized after being hit by ICE vehicle during pursuit in west Houston
- FOX 26 Houston: Man struck by ICE vehicle in Harris County incident
- CNN: Man injured after being struck by ICE vehicle while fleeing on foot during enforcement operation, officials say
- The Guardian: ICE agent strikes man with vehicle during pursuit in Texas, officials say