ICE used an SUV as a weapon against Miguel Parra Hernandez

By Alma Cordero · Reporting from El Paso · October 15, 2026

After an ICE officer intentionally struck Miguel Parra Hernandez with a vehicle, the federal government's refusal to cooperate proves that impunity is the agency's primary operational tool.

Miguel Parra Hernandez spent 34 years in the shadows. He applied stucco to the walls of a country that does not want him. On October 10, 2026, that country tried to break him. An ICE officer just hit him with a vehicle in Houston. He hunted him. This was not a traffic accident. It was an assault. The federal government is now using every tool in its kit to hide the truth. They are protecting a badge that has become a license to maim.

The violence on the pavement

The surveillance footage obtained by NBC News is a horror movie in fast forward. It shows a white truck heading the wrong way. Miguel and another man jump out and run. Then comes the dark SUV. It does not slow down. It jumps a yellow median. It swerves left. It strikes Miguel from behind and leaves him lying on the pavement.

Miguel is 48 years old. He suffered a right leg fractured in multiple places and an injury to his left leg. He has already had one surgery. He needs another for his ankle. He cannot put weight on his leg. According to ABC Color, he is recovering in a hospital in the Katy area.

But Miguel is not a patient in a sanctuary. He is a prisoner in a ward. Two ICE officers guard him 24/7. Cesar Espinosa of FIEL Houston says Miguel does not feel safe. It is a cruel irony. The same agency that broke his bones is now the agency that decides when he can eat or sleep. His brother, Rodolfo Parra, has begged authorities to keep Miguel in the hospital. He knows that once Miguel leaves the ward, he disappears into the machine. Hay mucho miedo in that family.

The witness in the backseat

The most damning evidence is not on a tape. It is in the memory of Luis Enriquez. Luis is 48. He is a small business owner who has lived here for 34 years. He has an approved immigration case awaiting a green card. He has no criminal history. Yet, on that Saturday morning, ICE handcuffed him and threw him in the back of that SUV.

Luis was a passenger in the weapon. He witnessed everything. He saw the moment the officer decided to swerve. He saw the moment Miguel was run over. Now, Luis is held in a Montgomery County detention facility. He is a key witness, but he is trapped.

This is how the system works. It detains the witnesses to silence the crime. Nidia, the sister of Luis, says her family is afraid. They are right to be. When the state holds the witness, the state controls the story. It is a tactic designed to ensure that the only voice heard is the one belonging to the agency.

A record of impunity

The agency's defense is a script they have memorized. ICE issued a statement calling the allegations "reckless" and "false." They claim Miguel "ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck." They say they were targeting Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, a man they claim has committed several crimes.

This is the strongest case the agency can make. They argue the officer was performing a lawful duty and the injury was an unavoidable result of a suspect fleeing. But the evidence shreds this narrative. FIEL Houston reports that no one connected to the incident recognizes the name Jose Mendoza-Cervantes. The target may not even exist.

More importantly, the behavior after the crash is a confession. Click2Houston reports that ICE agents declined to download the SUV's crash data recorder. An agent drove the vehicle away before a search warrant could be obtained. This was a deliberate move to erase the digital record of the impact.

This is the exact shared mechanism we saw in the Death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, where ICE officers in Houston operated with total impunity, targeted non-targets in violent encounters, and the federal government refused to cooperate with local prosecutors. In that case, an ICE officer shot a 52-year-old Mexican man in Houston while he was driving a work crew. In both cases, ICE officers in Houston operated with total impunity. They targeted people who were not their targets. Then, the Department of Homeland Security refused to cooperate with local prosecutors.

It is a pattern of state violence followed by a wall of silence. The long record predicts that the federal government will continue to stonewall Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare. Teare says the behavior of these agents is "so dangerous to everyone that lives in these communities." He is right.

The GAO has already warned that ICE and CBP lack operational guidance for body cameras. This means officers can choose when to be seen. A senior DHS official says they are reviewing video for an internal investigation. We know how those investigations end. They end with a closed file and a promoted officer.

The federal government is not just protecting a driver. It is protecting a system where the law is a suggestion for the officer and a hammer for the migrant. They will likely try to move Miguel from the hospital before his reconstructive surgery. They will likely assert sovereign immunity to block Teare from filing aggravated assault charges. They treat the streets of Houston as a war zone and the people living there as collateral.

Justice requires that the officer be charged as a civilian would be for using a car as a deadly weapon. It requires that Luis Enriquez be released so he can testify without the threat of deportation. Until then, the badge is just a shield for a crime.

ICE used an SUV as a weapon against Miguel Parra Hernandez

The violence on the pavement

The witness in the backseat

A record of impunity

Sources