Parra-Hernandez has no criminal record, attorney says

A 48-year-old Texas man struck by an ICE vehicle during a Saturday morning traffic stop in Houston was not the target of the federal operation, according to his attorney. Miguel Parra-Hernandez, who has lived in the United States for 34 years and has no criminal record, remained in ICE custody as of Monday, his attorney and a local immigrant advocacy group said.

Parra-Hernandez suffered serious injuries including a shattered ankle and hip when he was run over in a shopping center parking lot in Harris County at about 7:30 a.m. Saturday, according to his attorney Kim Bruno and César Espinosa, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group FIEL Houston. The two spoke at a news conference Monday.

ICE, in statements to multiple media outlets, said it was pursuing another man — Jose Mendoza-Cervantes — during an early-morning operation and that its vehicle attempted to stop a pickup truck before the occupants ran away. The agency said Parra-Hernandez was not its target but that he ran in front of the ICE vehicle and was struck.

Video aired by ABC News affiliate KTRK, however, shows a dark-colored, unmarked SUV following Parra-Hernandez and veering toward him as he ran across the parking lot. Major Anthony McConnell of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office told KTRK that ICE personnel moved the pickup truck before his deputies arrived.

Bruno said the ICE vehicle was not using a siren or displaying flashing lights at the time of the incident. ICE earlier in October adopted new rules for traffic stops requiring that vehicles be equipped with lights and sirens to identify them as law enforcement, though the guidelines do not mandate their use.

The new guidelines, contained in a memo written by Marcos Charles, executive associate director of ICE and obtained by the Associated Press, also state that ICE officers are no longer permitted to chase vehicles that refuse to stop. The memo came after a series of violent and fatal confrontations involving federal immigration officers over the summer.

Neither Parra-Hernandez nor the other person in the pickup truck — a coworker he had picked up that morning for work — knew Mendoza-Cervantes, according to Bruno. ICE has identified Mendoza-Cervantes as having multiple previous arrests and a judicially issued final order of removal from the United States. Bruno said Parra-Hernandez told her he fled because he did not know who was in the dark-colored vehicle.

Witnesses told reporters that Parra-Hernandez remained on the ground for at least seven minutes after he was struck. Espinosa said doctors have said Parra-Hernandez cannot put weight on his leg for at least six weeks and must wait for swelling to recede before reconstructive surgery can take place. Bruno said he requires additional surgery and many weeks of recovery.

Espinosa and Bruno met briefly with Parra-Hernandez at the hospital Monday morning, but the visit ended after about 15 minutes when ICE agents entered the room, began recording the conversation and instructed the attorneys to leave.

“To add insult to injury, Mr Miguel is in the custody of the ICE agents who ran him down,” Espinosa said, as reported by NBC News. “This is so disheartening and so angering that Miguel has to face the people that brutally attacked them every single day, 24 hours a day.”

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said Monday his office is investigating the Parra-Hernandez case. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it was called by ICE after the crash, which occurred amid nationwide criticism of ICE’s arrest, detention and deportation tactics during President Donald Trump’s second term.

The Guardian has contacted ICE for comment.