ICE agent struck construction worker while pursuing suspect documented as dead years earlier
An ICE vehicle hit Miguel Parra Hernandez in Houston on October 10, breaking his leg, but the agency appears to have been targeting a man who died years ago, according to family documentation and officials.
What happened
On October 10, a federal ICE officer drove a vehicle into Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old construction worker, fracturing multiple bones in his legs and requiring reconstructive ankle surgery. ICE claimed it was pursuing a suspect identified as Jose Mendoza-Cervantes whom officers observed entering a vehicle with Parra Hernandez. However, Harris County District Attorney spokesperson Rafael Lemaitre stated Mendoza-Cervantes was not in that vehicle. The man ICE photographed and identified as the suspect was actually Jose Hector Jimenez, who died years ago while being pursued by federal immigration authorities, according to documentation provided by his daughter to the district attorney. Surveillance footage reviewed by the district attorney shows a black SUV speeding over a median toward a fleeing man, contradicting ICE's claim that Parra Hernandez stepped in front of the vehicle. Parra Hernandez remains hospitalized and has been placed in federal custody.
Context
The incident raises fundamental questions about ICE's operational procedures and suspect verification protocols, particularly given that officers appear to have pursued a deceased individual without confirming his status. Parra Hernandez, who immigration advocates say came to the U.S. out of necessity, now faces federal detention while hospitalized with serious injuries unrelated to any suspected crime on his part. A witness detained in the same ICE vehicle, Luis Enrique Delfín, was in federal custody as of reporting. The case occurs amid broader national scrutiny of ICE's aggressive arrest and deportation tactics under Trump's second administration, with the Guardian reporting in late September 2026 that more than 30 people had died during interactions with immigration officials in that year. The discrepancy between ICE's account and evidence from law enforcement and advocacy groups undermines the agency's credibility in the incident.
What's disputed
ICE claims officers observed the target suspect enter the vehicle with Parra Hernandez; the Harris County District Attorney's office states the suspect was not in that vehicle. ICE's justification for the vehicle strike and the circumstances leading to it are contradicted by surveillance footage reviewed by prosecutors.