ICE agent charged for allegedly striking a Mexican national with his car – BBC

ICE agent charged for allegedly striking a Mexican national with his car  BBC

The Mexican national, who was living in the US without legal documentation, suffered multiple leg fractures and a hip injury, prosecutors said. A US immigration agent has been charged with felony for allegedly hitting a man with a vehicle earlier this month in Texas, a prosecutor announced. The prosecutor said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Mario Alberto Morales was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Morales is accused of running over a Mexican national who was living in the US without legal documentation, leaving him with multiple leg fractures and a hip injury. An ICE spokesperson dismissed the indictment as "nothing more than a political stunt" and described the allegations as "reckless and false".

The indictment comes amid the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration and a series of violent incidents involving federal agents that have resulted in injuries and deaths. If convicted, Morales faces between two to 20 years in prison for the second-degree felony, according to Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare. Teare said Morales pursued a vehicle driven by Miguel Parra-Hernandez, a 48-year-old Mexican national who has lived in Texas for more than 30 years without legal documentation, on the morning of 10 October. Parra-Hernandez and another occupant fled the vehicle on foot before Morales "aggressively