The ICE agent who allegedly ran over an immigrant in Houston Saturday has been put on administrative leave while the incident is investigated, a senior Department of Homeland Security official told NBC News.As NBC News previously reported, a senior DHS official said that multiple ICE officers on the scene at the time were wearing body cameras and ICE is reviewing video of the scene as part of an internal investigation.The DHS official said no decision has been made yet about sharing the footage with the public or with the Harris County district attorney’s office, which is conducting its own investigation of the case.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told NBC News on Thursday that he’s interviewed a key witness who was handcuffed in the back of the ICE vehicle when it hit Miguel Parra Hernández.The witness “had a front row seat to the incident and everything that led up to it,” Teare said.
“We did get a significant amount of relevant details from him.” The witness was interviewed at Port Isabel Processing Center, about 35 to 40 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border in south Texas, according to the district attorney’s office.The Port Isabel facility is historically known as the last stop before an immigrant is removed from the U.S.
Teare said his office is compiling all information it has gathered or is still gathering and “in very short order we’re going to come to a point where we present this to a grand jury.” He said that could happen as soon as next week.Cesar Espinosa, cofounder and executive director of FIEL Houston, identified the witness as José Presa Cañada and also said he had been interviewed by the district attorney.
“It’s very troubling” that Presa is in Port Isabel, Espinosa said Thursday.“We want to know why he’s there and why he hasn’t been released yet and why they are trying to deport him so expeditiously.” Teare declined to comment on what was said during the interview with Presa.
Teare also has int...