Houston ICE Officer Indicted for Hitting Undocumented Man With His Jeep

A Harris County grand jury has indicted a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on a felony charge for allegedly hitting a man with a vehicle in Houston earlier this month, District Attorney Sean Teare announced Friday.

Teare said ICE Officer Mario Alberto Morales was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, Morales faces a prison sentence of between two and 20 years. The district attorney said the victim, Miguel Parra-Hernandez, is a 48-year-old Mexican national who has lived in Texas for more than 30 years without legal status. Teare said Parra-Hernandez has no criminal record.

Prosecutors say the vehicle was a 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee and that Morales ran over both of Parra-Hernandez's legs, leaving him with a broken leg. 'Morales aggressively steered his vehicle into Parra-Hernandez,' Teare said at a news conference. Footage the district attorney said came from Morales' body camera shows Parra-Hernandez groaning on the ground after the impact. In the video, the officer wearing the camera tells someone else, 'Like, I was coming in, and I hit him with the car.'

Teare also played a recording of Morales' 911 call for an ambulance, in which Parra-Hernandez can be heard screaming in the background. On the call, Morales said, 'We're 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.' In the immediate aftermath, an ICE spokesperson told CBS News that Parra-Hernandez ran in front of the agency's vehicle.

ICE rejected the grand jury's decision. The agency told The Associated Press the indictment was 'a political stunt' and that local officials lack the authority to investigate federal officers for performing their duties. In a separate statement it said allegations that its officer struck Parra-Hernandez intentionally are 'RECKLESS and FALSE.'

Teare pushed back on that framing. He said his office has the 'utmost respect and admiration for law enforcement' and will prosecute any officer who violates the law. 'An ICE badge does not give you free rein to injure, kill or violate the constitutional rights of anyone,' he said. He said he hoped the prosecution would do more than hold one officer to account.

The case now sets up a collision between a county prosecutor and the federal government over who can charge immigration agents for actions taken on the job. Federal officers have often argued they are shielded from state prosecution when acting within their official duties, and the question of how far that protection extends is likely to be central if Morales' lawyers seek to move the case or have it dismissed. An attorney for Morales has spoken out against the charge, according to local reporting.

The indictment arrives days before the November 3 midterm elections, with immigration enforcement a live issue in campaigns across the country. For now, the case moves to the Harris County courts, where Morales will have to answer the charge.