ICE officer indicted after vehicle collision with pedestrian amid hiring surge scrutiny

ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales turned himself in on Monday after a grand jury indictment on a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was released on a $30,000 bond by District Judge Matthew Peneguy in Harris County, Texas.

The incident, captured by multiple cameras on Oct. 10, shows Morales pursuing Miguel Parra Hernandez, who exited a stopped truck and began running. Morales’ vehicle turned left and struck Parra, who is now recovering under ICE supervision. District Attorney Sean Teare said the footage suggests Morales deliberately ran over Parra to stop the chase, while an ICE spokesperson called the allegation "reckless and false" and emphasized the agency’s standards of professionalism.

Morales, 33, was hired by ICE in August 2025, a period when the agency accelerated hiring to meet President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement goals. Former Department of Homeland Security officials told NBC News that some recent recruits did not meet standard hiring criteria, prompting a later announcement to retrain officers who received expedited training.

Attorney David Lindenmuth, representing Morales, described the collision as accidental, saying his client attempted to avoid a vehicle ahead and that the district attorney’s comments were politically motivated. He also noted Morales’ background, including prior work as a corrections officer, military police service, and a brief tenure with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, from which he resigned in 2018 while on probation for falsifying records.

The case is the first indictment of an ICE officer in Texas. It follows a separate federal indictment of an ICE officer in Minnesota related to a shooting earlier this year. Both incidents have intensified scrutiny of ICE’s recruitment and training practices ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.