An illegal immigrant with a prior criminal record was caught Wednesday after reportedly dragging a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer with his automobile while fleeing an arrest attempt near Chicago, according to federal officials.
Jose Garnica-Naranjo, 32, a Mexican citizen, was taken into custody a day after violently resisting a targeted immigration enforcement operation, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“This illegal alien used his vehicle to assault one of our ICE officers, hospitalizing the officer,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.
“Thankfully, the officer has since been released from the hospital. This is just the latest example of the staggering rise in anti-ICE violence, with our officers facing a more than 1,600% increase in assaults against them.”
On Tuesday morning, ICE officers noticed Garnica-Naranjo exiting a house in Chicago Heights. According to DHS, officers followed his automobile for a distance before attempting to instigate a traffic stop.
Officers instructed Garnica-Naranjo to turn off the engine, but he allegedly refused. When officers attempted to remove Garnica from the vehicle, he accelerated and escaped while an ERO Chicago officer was partially inside via the driver-side window, according to a DHS statement.
Garnica-Naranjo then drove over a raised center median planted with trees, throwing the officer out of the vehicle, according to officials.
As Garnica-Naranjo fled, his automobile collided with the injured officer, who was later transported to a local hospital. The cop sustained contusions, bruises, and scrapes on his legs, but testing revealed no broken bones.
According to ICE, Garnica-Naranjo has a criminal record that includes prior convictions for domestic abuse and assault.
Mullin attributed the violence against immigration officers to Democratic lawmakers accusing ICE of intimidating neighborhoods during law enforcement operations.
“This is the result of anti-ICE rhetoric from sanctuary politicians such as Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker,” he stated. “DHS is calling on Governor Pritzker and all other sanctuary politicians to knock off this violent rhetoric and start cooperating with ICE before any more officers are injured in the line of duty.”
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