The person ICE said it was trying to arrest when one of its agents hit a man with an SUV in Houston last weekend has been dead since 2017, according to an immigration advocacy group and an attorney who spoke with the family of the deceased immigrant.
ICE said its agents were “conducting a targeted enforcement operation” to arrest José Mendoza-Cervantes when an agent struck and seriously injured Miguel Parra Hernández, 48, on October 10.
In a previous statement, ICE said it attempted to stop the vehicle and the two people in the car fled. Officers attempted to apprehend the fleeing men and “Miguel Parra Hernández ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck,” the ICE spokesperson said.
The collision left Parra with injuries to his hip, leg and ankle, including a broken leg, according to his family and representatives.
Subsequently, ICE released a statement that included a photo of the head of the man it identified as Mendoza-Cervantes with the word “wanted” in white capital letters.
But the daughter of the man identified by ICE as Mendoza-Cervantes told an immigrant civil rights group that the photo was actually of her deceased father.
At a news conference Friday, FIEL Houston leader Cesar Espinosa said his daughter identified the man in the photo as her father, José Hector Jimenez Mendoza, who died nearly a decade ago while trying to enter the United States.
“She called our office sobbing because she saw her father’s picture all over the news, all over the ICE website, saying they were looking for her father,” Espinosa said. He added that FIEL turned over all relevant documents to Harris County Prosecutor Sean Teare.
The New York Times first reported that Mendoza had died in 2017, stating that Mendoza’s daughter, Jamie Jimenez, told the outlet that the family was “horrified” to see their father presented as a living fugitive. She told the newspaper he used pseudonyms, including one used by ICE.
Parra’s attorney, Kim Bruno, provided a copy of a Mexican death certificate given to her and FIEL by the family. It lists the man’s name as J. Hector Jimenez Mendoza, the year of his death as 2017, and the location of death as Laredo, Texas. Several sections of the death certificate, which contain the identity of the parents as well as the addresses and cause of death, have been blacked out.
Bruno said the news that the man identified by ICE as Mendoza-Cervantes was dead was “beyond breathtaking” and that the use of the dead man’s image was “breathtaking.”
Espinosa criticized ICE during the news conference and accused the agency of misidentifying the man with Parra.
“Either someone is not telling the truth or all of a sudden both ICE agents have developed a sixth sense and are able to see dead people,” Espinosa said.
Espinosa called on ICE “to tell the truth. Be honest and turn over all body cameras.”
A senior Department of Homeland Security official told NBC News on Thursday that it was internally reviewing body camera video, but no decision had been made about whether to release it.
At the news conference, Espinosa introduced the other man who fled with Parra, who identified himself only as “Omar.” He did not answer questions but confirmed he was the person in the car with Parra before fleeing on foot. The man has light eyes, unlike the man in the photo released by ICE.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about Jimenez Mendoza and Espinosa’s comments.
Harris County Prosecutor Sean Teare is investigating ICE for a possible aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge following Parra’s injury.
Teare, a Democrat, said it was “pretty obvious” from the videos that ICE intentionally hit and ran over Parra. ICE stated that “allegations that ICE intentionally struck Miguel Parra-Hernandez are COMPERATORY and FALSE.”
Teare said he could take the case to a grand jury as soon as next week.
A senior DHS official told NBC News on Thursday that the officer who drove the vehicle that struck Parra has been placed on administrative leave.
Bruno also represents Luis Delfin Martínez, one of two men who was handcuffed in the back of the ICE vehicle when it struck Parra.
The two men were arrested in a separate operation, Bruno and Espinosa previously said. Delfín, Parra and the second man in the vehicle, José Presa Cañada, are undocumented, Espinosa said.
Bruno said Friday that Delfín suffered soft tissue injuries after being thrown into the back of the ICE vehicle while handcuffed and unrestrained while pursuing Parra. Delfín is being held at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas.
ICE did not immediately respond to a question about the allegations regarding Delfín.
Teare told NBC News on Thursday that his office interviewed Presa at a detention center in South Texas, near the border, and obtained “a significant amount of relevant details from him.”
ICE had told Teare’s office that it planned to deport Presa, Teare said.
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