Photo: Getty Images
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent reportedly fired shots at an illegal Cuban migrant who allegedly struck him and another agent with an SUV in St. Paul, Minnesota, Sunday (December 21) morning, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed in an email to ABC News.
The illegal migrant was also reported to have bit an ICE agent while officers attempted to subdue him outside his apartment after he had attempted to flee on foot, McLaughlin confirmed in the email. The suspect wasn't hurt during the shooting and the injuries sustained by the ICE agents during the SUV incident weren't life-threatening, but did result in them being taken to the hospital to be evaluated.
McLaughlin confirmed that the Cuban migrant entered the United States through the discontinued program implemented by former President Joe Biden's administration, which allowed migrants without proper entry papers to gain access to the U.S. with pending claims for asylum. The St. Paul Police Department said officers were in the area responding to a reports of shots fired before discovering that the ICE agent had fired the shots.
ICE agents spotted the illegal migrant getting into his SUV and approached the vehicle, identifying themselves. The man refused to roll down his window, at which point the ICE officers threatened to break it if he didn't comply.
The man then drove off, striking an agent, and went to a parking lot at his apartment complex, at which point he was stopped by agents who ordered him to exit the SUV. The man, instead, rammed his SUV into an ICE vehicle, striking a second agent, which resulted in shots being fired, none of which struck him, according to McLaughlin.
The man eventually exited the SUV, but attempted to flee to his apartment and was instead brought to the ground by ICE agents. Tensions have been high in Minnesota recently as federal authorities have cracked down on immigration, with ICE agents and protesters clashing in Minneapolis last week.