A 24-year-old Honduran man, Josué Castro Rivera, who was fleeing federal immigration agents in Virginia, died on a highway after being struck by a vehicle. His death follows recent incidents in which three other immigrants in Chicago and California were killed during immigration enforcement operations under the Trump administration’s crackdown.
Castro Rivera was headed to a gardening job on Thursday when his vehicle was pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, according to his brother, Henry Castro. Agents attempted to detain Castro Rivera and the three other passengers in the vehicle. Castro Rivera fled on foot, tried to cross Interstate 264 in Norfolk, and was fatally struck by a passing vehicle, according to state and federal authorities.
Castro Rivera had come to the United States four years ago and was working to send money to his family in Honduras, his brother said. “He had a very good heart,” Henry Castro shared on Sunday.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that Castro Rivera’s vehicle was stopped by ICE as part of a “targeted, intelligence-based” operation. Passengers were detained for allegedly living in the country without legal permission. DHS said in a statement that Castro Rivera “resisted heavily and fled,” and died after being hit by a passing vehicle.
Virginia State Police reported that officers responded to a vehicle-pedestrian crash at around 11 a.m. Thursday on eastbound I-264 near the Military Highway interchange. The victim was struck by a 2002 Ford pickup and pronounced dead at the scene. The crash remains under investigation.
Federal authorities and state police referred to the man as Jose, while family members said his name was Josué. Neither DHS nor state police have explained the discrepancy.
Henry Castro called his brother’s death an injustice and is raising funds to transport Josué’s body back to Honduras for the funeral. “He didn’t deserve everything that happened to him,” he said.
DHS blamed Castro Rivera’s death on “a direct result of every politician, activist and reporter who continue to spread propaganda and misinformation about ICE’s mission and ways to avoid detention.”
Similar deaths during immigration operations elsewhere have sparked protests, lawsuits, and calls for investigations amid claims that initial accounts by the Trump administration were misleading.
Last month, in suburban Chicago, federal immigration agents fatally shot a Mexican man during a traffic stop. DHS initially claimed a federal officer was “seriously injured,” but police body camera footage later showed the officer walking around and describing the injuries as minor.
In July, a farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof during a chaotic ICE raid at a California cannabis facility. And in August, another man fled from federal agents onto a freeway in California and was fatally struck by a vehicle.
These incidents highlight ongoing concerns about the methods and consequences of immigration enforcement operations in the United States.
https://abc7.com/post/man-fleeing-immigration-agents-is-fatally-struck-vehicle-virginia-highway/18076914/