Judge slams ICE for 'fictional' case seeking to jail migrant for 20 years.The agent involved cut himself breaking window [View all]

Source: The Independent

Thursday 06 November 2025 18:15 EST


A Texas federal judge had scathing words for the Trump administration last month when he dismissed a “largely fictional” case against a Honduran immigrant who officials accused of harming an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who broke the man’s car window during a stop. “The Government’s conduct was—and has been—outrageous,” U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in his October 20 ruling tossing the case.

The controversy centered around a June stop in San Antonio, where federal agents and Texas troopers arrested Jaime Alberto Quintanilla-Chavez, 35, a Honduran immigrant married to a U.S. citizen. After getting a tip from a Texas woman who claimed Quintanilla-Chavez was in the country illegally and had abused her daughter, officers considered the man an “easy target” and prepared to arrest him.

During the stop, agents ordered him to open the doors of his truck and soon broke the driver’s-side window. In the process, a Homeland Security Investigations officer, William Carl, suffered a cut to his arm. Federal officials accused Quintanilla-Chavez of impeding officers and harming the agent, seeking a sentence of up to 20 years.

In his ruling, Judge Rodriguez called the government’s description of the stop “largely fictional,” pointing to a variety of issues with the stop: agents lacked a warrant; there was no evidence the Honduran had an order of removal from the country; and officers only asked about his immigration status after they forcibly removed him from the truck and handcuffed him.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/ice-agent-texas-case-car-window-b2860351.html