A Texas grand jury has indicted Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Mario Alberto Morales for running over an immigrant with his car in Houston earlier this month, local authorities announced Friday.
Morales was charged with aggravated assault with a weapon — his vehicle, said Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare. Miguel Parra-Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, is in ICE custody at a rehabilitation facility and recovering from severe injuries, including multiple fractures.
The indictment was announced in a Friday morning news conference, with a warrant for Morales expected to go out the same day, authorities said.
In a statement to The Washington Post, an ICE spokesperson called Friday’s indictment a “political stunt” and defended its officer.
“Allegations that ICE struck Miguel Parra-Hernandez intentionally are RECKLESS and FALSE,” the spokesperson said. “As our brave law enforcement officers arrest and remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens from our communities, America can be proud of the professionalism our officers bring the job day-in and day-out.”
The news comes after several high-profile killings of immigrants by federal agents, including one recently in Houston. Justice Department officials have repeatedly resisted calls from critics demanding they more actively probe the circumstances behind the deaths.
Local prosecutors face an uphill battle in criminal cases against federal officers because of the Constitution’s supremacy clause, which protects officers from state prosecution if their conduct is deemed necessary for carrying out federal duties.
On the morning of Oct. 10, Morales was looking for another immigrant when he began following Parra-Hernandez, who was driving a Chevrolet Silverado, apparently mistaking him for the target. Parra-Hernandez stopped his car and he and another passenger began to run.
“What happened next shocked our entire community,” Teare (D) said at the Harris County courthouse news conference.
Video footage from a nearby bakery and the officer’s own body camera, which was played during the briefing, shows Parra-Hernandez running through a parking lot and the officer aggressively veering into him with his unmarked Jeep.
When another agent approaches, Morales says in the video “I was coming in, and I hit him with the car.” He approaches Parra-Hernandez, who is shrieking and moaning in pain.
“You ran me over,” Parra-Hernandez cries. “My leg.”
Moments later, Morales called 911. The police record was also released and played during the news conference. In it, the dispatcher asks what happened.
“We were following this guy, trying to pull him over. He jumped out of the vehicle, I tried to get around him, and he hit my car,” Morales says, contradicting the video footage and comments he had just made to his fellow officer.
Morales was recruited to ICE during the August 2025 recruitment surge, said Teare, when officers were put in fast-tracked training programs to rapidly expand the agency as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. During the local investigation, Teare said he and his team reviewed the officer’s background and experience.
“I can unequivocally tell you that I’ve reviewed thousands of job applications and résumés for law enforcement officers from around this state, and I’m not familiar with a single agency that would’ve hired this person,” he said, without providing further details.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales also said they discovered in their investigation that there were two other detained immigrants in the back of the vehicle with Morales. He and Teare said he should have never engaged in a pursuit with immigrants in handcuffs and no seat belts in the back seat.
“An ICE badge does not give you free rein to injure, kill or violate the constitutional rights of anyone,” Teare said. “My hope is that this prosecution will do more than just see justice for the Parra-Hernandez family and Parra-Hernandez. I hope that it also sends a loud and clear message to every ICE officer who feels they have a free pass to terrorize our streets — the time to stop is now.”
The post ICE agent charged in Houston with injuring migrant during enforcement effort appeared first on Washington Post.
