❓WHAT HAPPENED: An illegal immigrant allegedly dragged a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer with his van for an entire block during an attempted escape in Dallas, Texas.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Honduran national Jose Melgar-Rivas and ICE officers.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The incident occurred in Dallas, Texas, with details posted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday, July 17, 2025.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Attacks on our officers will NOT be tolerated. This resulted in multiple injuries to the officer’s body and ended with Jose Melgar-Rivas in cuffs.” – ICE via a post on X.
🎯IMPACT: The officer sustained multiple injuries, and Melgar-Rivas now faces charges of assaulting a federal officer alongside his existing removal order.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer was dragged for an entire block by a van driven by Honduran national Jose Melgar-Rivas during an attempted detention in Dallas, Texas. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detailed the incident in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday.
According to ICE, Melgar-Rivas attempted to flee by accelerating his vehicle, dragging the officer and leaving him with severe injuries, including bruising and friction burns. The DHS highlighted the case as an example of the growing danger federal officers face, noting an 830 percent increase in assaults on ICE personnel between January 21 and July 14 compared to the same timeframe in 2024. The agency attributed this rise in part to inflammatory rhetoric from “sanctuary” politicians, which incites hostility toward ICE agents.
“Attacks on our officers will NOT be tolerated,” ICE stated on X. “This resulted in multiple injuries to the officer’s body and ended with Jose Melgar-Rivas in cuffs.”
Melgar-Rivas, who already had a final order of removal, now faces additional charges of assaulting a federal officer.
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