A federal immigration officer in Houston has been criminally charged after prosecutors say he deliberately drove his vehicle into a Mexican construction worker who was attempting to flee during an enforcement operation last October.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare announced Friday that ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales faces a second-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge in connection with the October 10 incident involving Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, who suffered a broken leg after being struck by the vehicle.
Surveillance footage reviewed by prosecutors shows an unmarked Jeep Cherokee accelerating over a median and heading directly toward Parra Hernandez as he ran away. Body camera video from Morales himself captures him driving and discussing pursuing someone, followed by what appears to be the vehicle making sharp turns and striking an object. After exiting the vehicle, Morales can be heard saying “He got hit with a car, bro” and “I was coming in, and I hit him with the car.”
ICE has pushed back strongly against the charges, insisting Parra Hernandez stepped in front of the vehicle and calling the indictment a “political stunt.” The agency argued that local authorities lack jurisdiction to prosecute federal officers acting within the scope of their duties.
Further complicating ICE’s account, the agency identified a man named Jose Mendoza-Cervantes as the target of the operation that day. However, family members and an immigrant rights organization called FIEL say that individual has been dead since 2017 and went by a different name entirely. Teare’s office also said its investigation found no evidence that Parra Hernandez and the man ICE identified were ever in a vehicle together.
Teare accused the Department of Homeland Security of refusing to cooperate with investigators and alleged that evidence may have been destroyed either deliberately or through negligence. He said the officer who drove the SUV left the scene before the vehicle could be impounded.
Parra Hernandez has lived in the United States for more than 30 years without legal authorization and remains in immigration custody. FIEL is advocating for his release following the indictment.
Morales was not in custody as of Friday and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Teare said his office has been in contact with the officer’s legal representative.
This case comes as Teare is also investigating the July fatal shooting of a Houston homebuilder by an ICE officer, a case that sparked widespread protests across the city.