Texas immigration advocates say the man federal agents were pursuing when an ICE officer struck a Houston immigrant with a vehicle has been dead since 2017.
Immigration advocacy group FIEL identified the target as Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, a Mexican national ICE described as having a criminal record and a final order of removal.
Jimenez’s daughter provided a death certificate from the Mexican government confirming the 2017 death, and the document has since been turned over to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
NBC News posted a snapshot of the 2017 death certificate, raising serious questions about the accuracy of ICE’s intelligence before the incident unfolded Saturday morning.
Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old undocumented immigrant, was driving to work when federal authorities attempted to pull him over and he and his passenger fled on foot.
ICE said in a statement that an agent observed Mendoza-Cervantes get into a vehicle with Parra Hernandez Saturday morning, which prompted officers to give chase.
An ICE spokesperson said officers were attempting “to apprehend the illegal aliens” when Parra Hernandez “ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck.”
Cesar Espinosa, the executive director of FIEL, said Parra Hernandez suffered multiple injuries to his leg and would require surgery following the incident.
The ICE officer involved in the incident has been placed on administrative leave while the matter is investigated, a senior Department of Homeland Security official confirmed to NBC News.
A senior DHS official said multiple officers present at the scene were wearing body cameras and that ICE is reviewing footage as part of an internal investigation.
No decision has been made about whether to share the video with the public or with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, which is conducting a parallel investigation.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare announced Monday that his office had opened an investigation into the alleged use of force and called on the community for assistance.
“ICE tactics in our community are growing more brazen and more dangerous,” Teare said in a statement. “High-speed pursuits and aggressive operations on busy streets put everyone at risk.”
A witness to the incident, identified by Teare and Espinosa as José Presa Cañada, is currently being held at the Port Isabel Processing Center, roughly 35 to 40 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.
“It’s very troubling” that Presa is in Port Isabel, Espinosa said, adding, “We want to know why he’s there and why he hasn’t been released yet and why they are trying to deport him so expeditiously.”
Teare said ICE and DHS have not cooperated with his office during the investigation, mirroring a pattern he says began after an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo last July.
Separately, ICE agents shot and injured Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in Austin last month while he was working as a food delivery driver, and that incident also remains under active investigation.
