Man fleeing immigration agents is fatally struck by a vehicle on a Virginia highway

A 24-year-old guy from Honduras who was running away from federal immigration officers in Virginia died on a highway when a car hit him.

Josué Castro Rivera’s death comes after three other immigrants were slain in Chicago and California during immigration enforcement operations under the Trump administration’s crackdown.

Henry Castro stated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities stopped Castro Rivera’s car on Thursday as he was on his way to a gardening job.

According to state and federal authorities, agents sought to stop Castro Rivera and the three other passengers, but he ran away on foot, tried to cross Interstate 264 in Norfolk, and was hit and killed.

His brother said that Castro Rivera moved to the US four years ago and was trying to transfer money to family in Honduras.

Castro remarked on Sunday, “He had a very good heart.”

The Department of Homeland Security said that ICE halted Castro Rivera’s car as part of a “targeted, intelligence-based” operation and took the passengers into custody for allegedly living in the country without permission. In a statement, DHS said that Castro Rivera “resisted heavily and fled” and died when a car hit him. On Sunday, DHS officials did not respond to demands for more information. Virginia State Police said that troopers went to the scene of a crash between a car and a person walking on westbound I-264 at the Military Highway interchange around 11 a.m. on Thursday. Police said Rivera was hit by a 2002 Ford pickup truck and died on the spot.

The crash is still being looked into.

The federal government and state police said his first name was Jose, but family members insisted it was Josué. DHS and state police did not explain why there was a difference.

Castro added that his brother’s death was unfair and that he is raising money to send the body back to Honduras for the funeral.

“He didn’t deserve everything that happened to him,” Castro stated.

DHS said that Castro Rivera’s murder was “a direct result of every politician, activist, and reporter who continues to spread propaganda and false information about ICE’s mission and ways to avoid detention.”

There have been demonstrations, lawsuits, and calls for a probe because of similar deaths during immigration operations in other places. People say that the Trump administration’s first reports are not true.

Federal immigration agents shot and killed a Mexican man during a traffic check last month in the suburbs of Chicago. At first, DHS reported that a federal officer had been “seriously injured,” however police body camera footage showed the officer walking about and saying that his injuries were “nothing major.”

A farmworker died in July after falling from the ceiling of a greenhouse during a chaotic ICE raid at a California cannabis plant. In August, a guy ran away from federal authorities onto a freeway in the same state and was hit by a car and killed.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/immigration-arrest-death-traffic-virginia-3e68507cf451373aa49f18b80d532b1e

Share on Social Media