Aug 14, 2026·Arlington, VA·Mexico
Jose Mejia Hernandez, a 45-year-old Mexican immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for 18 years, says he was walking to work along Columbia Pike in Arlington, Virginia, when he was approached by men he did not realize were ICE agents and ran out of fear. He says he was shocked with what he believes was a Taser and possibly struck by an officer's vehicle, causing him to lose consciousness; he woke up in a Washington hospital with two blackened eyes, facial lacerations requiring stitches, bruising, and a brain hemorrhage, and was hospitalized for three days with ICE officers stationed in his room. His attorney, Carlos Jurado, says he has no violent criminal history and had no removal order at the time, and that the injury has left him unable to work, eat, sleep, or speak normally. DHS disputes his account, saying he fled and that agents used necessary force, noting he had previously accepted voluntary return to Mexico and had a 2020 public intoxication conviction. He has filed a police report seeking criminal prosecution of the agents, is pursuing a U visa, and plans to sue the federal government, and has since been placed in deportation proceedings with a hearing set for September 14. Virginia lawmakers including Rep. Don Beyer, Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti, and Commonwealth's Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti have called for an investigation.