Family Says Man ICE Sought in Houston Operation Died in 2017

The man ICE said it was trying to arrest when an agent’s SUV struck a Houston construction worker died in 2017, according to his family and an immigration advocacy group. The family’s account has added a new question to an Oct. 10 operation that local prosecutors are already investigating.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said its agents were conducting a targeted operation to arrest Jose Mendoza-Cervantes when the SUV struck Miguel Parra Hernández, 48. The agency said agents tried to stop a vehicle, two men fled, and Parra Hernández ran in front of the SUV. ICE denied that the driver struck him intentionally, calling such allegations “RECKLESS and FALSE.”

ICE released a photograph identifying its target as Mendoza-Cervantes. According to FIEL Houston, an immigrant civil rights group, Jamie Jimenez recognized the man pictured as her father, José Hector Jimenez Mendoza. The New York Times reported that Jimenez said her father used aliases, including the name ICE published, and that her family was “horrified” to see him portrayed as a living fugitive.

Parra Hernández’s attorney, Kim Bruno, gave NBC News a copy of a Mexican death certificate supplied by the family. It lists J. Hector Jimenez Mendoza as having died in 2017 in Laredo, Texas. FIEL said it turned relevant documents over to Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare. Jimenez’s husband confirmed to the Associated Press that the man in ICE’s photograph was his wife’s deceased father.

“Either someone is not telling the truth or, all of a sudden, the two ICE agents have developed a sixth sense and are able to see dead people,” FIEL executive director Cesar Espinosa said at a Friday news conference. He called on ICE to release officers’ body-camera footage. A senior Department of Homeland Security official told NBC News the footage was under internal review and no release decision had been made. NBC News reported that ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to questions regarding Jimenez Mendoza and Espinosa’s comments.

Rafael Lemaitre, a spokesperson for Teare’s office, told the Associated Press that Mendoza-Cervantes was not in the vehicle with Parra Hernández. At the news conference, a man identifying himself only as Omar confirmed he had been in the vehicle before the two fled on foot, NBC News reported.

Teare said video makes it “pretty obvious” that the ICE driver intentionally struck Parra Hernández. The Guardian reported that surveillance footage shows an SUV driving over a median toward a fleeing man, then shows the man on the ground; another vehicle blocks the view of the impact. Teare is investigating a possible aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge and said he could take the case to a grand jury as soon as the following week. A senior DHS official told NBC News the driver had been placed on administrative leave.

Parra Hernández suffered hip, leg and ankle injuries, including a broken leg, according to his family and representatives. FIEL told The Guardian he remained hospitalized and needed reconstructive ankle surgery. The group is seeking his release before a transfer to a federal detention center.

NBC News reported that two men were handcuffed in the back of the ICE vehicle when it struck Parra Hernández. Bruno and Espinosa said the men had been arrested in a separate operation. Bruno said one of them, Luis Delfín Martínez, suffered soft-tissue injuries while handcuffed and unbuckled as the vehicle pursued Parra Hernández. ICE did not immediately respond to a question about the allegations regarding Delfín.