Man Fatally Struck By Vehicle While Running From ICE On Busy Highway

A 24-year-old Honduran man, Jose Castro-Rivera, died on Thursday (October 23) after being struck by a vehicle while fleeing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Interstate 264 in Norfolk, Virginia. The incident occurred during a "targeted, intelligence-based immigration enforcement operation," according to a senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official. The operation involved stopping a vehicle, after which Castro-Rivera attempted to escape on foot and was fatally hit by a pickup truck.

Virginia State Police confirmed that they responded to the scene at the Military Highway interchange, where Castro-Rivera was pronounced dead. An ICE officer administered CPR, but he did not survive. The Virginia State Police stated they were not involved in the pursuit and are investigating the crash. This tragic event marks the second time since August that a person has died while attempting to flee ICE agents.

The incident has drawn attention to the Trump administration's intensified immigration enforcement efforts. This is the third known fatality involving individuals fleeing ICE operations this year. In August, Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdés from Guatemala was killed in a similar incident in California. Another immigrant, Jaime Alanís García from Mexico, died in July after falling while escaping an ICE raid in California.

The DHS declined to comment on the specifics of the operation involving Castro-Rivera or its policies regarding conducting immigration operations on highways. The crash remains under investigation by the Virginia State Police.