ICE arrests illegal alien who intentionally ran over and dragged officer with vehicle in Chicago

WASHINGTON - The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement announcing that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested an illegal alien who intentionally struck an ICE officer with his vehicle in Chicago, sending the officer to the hospital.

On November 10, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Chicago pulled over Jose Juan Garnica-Naranjo, an illegal alien from Mexico, during a targeted enforcement operation in Chicago Heights. His criminal history includes prior arrests for assault and domestic violence.

When officers ordered Garnica-Naranjo to shut off his engine, he refused to comply. As officers then attempted to remove him from the vehicle, he sped away while an ICE officer was still partially inside the vehicle through the driver-side door. After Garnica-Naranjo drove over a median, the officer was thrown from the vehicle before being struck by the vehicle as Garnica-Naranjo fled the scene.

The officer was sent to the hospital with a leg injury but has since been released. ICE officers apprehended Garnica-Naranjo later the same day.

"This illegal alien used his vehicle to assault one of our ICE officers, hospitalizing the officer," said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. "Thankfully, the officer has since been released from the hospital. This illegal alien's prior criminal history includes assault and domestic violence. This is just the latest example of the staggering rise in anti-ICE violence, with our officers facing a more than 1,600% increase in assaults against them. This is the result of anti-ICE rhetoric from sanctuary politicians like Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. DHS is calling on Governor Pritzker and all other sanctuary politicians to knock off this violent rhetoric and start cooperating with ICE before any more officers are injured in the line of duty."

Garnica-Naranjo has previously been deported SEVEN times, all in 2013. He then illegally re-entered the country at an unknown date and location.

Under Governor J.B. Pritzker, Illinois has become a hotbed of illegal alien crime. Some of the recent illegal alien crimes in the sanctuary state include:

• In August, ICE arrested Hamed Mohammed Hamed Alsaidi, an illegal alien from Jordan, after he had been arrested for having EIGHT Molotov cocktails in his possession in Mokena, Illinois. He had been released by sanctuary politicians in Will County who refused to honor ICE's detainer, and ICE arrested him two days later.
• In June, ICE lodged a detainer for Janio Gionel Velasquez-Muro, an illegal alien from Venezuela, after he was arrested for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl in Kane County, Illinois.
• In June, ICE arrested Giovanna Mercedes Moreno Occhipinti, an illegal alien from Venezuela and former teacher, for her involvement in a Tren de Aragua mass shooting in December 2024 that killed three people and injured several others at a house party in Chicago, Illinois.
• In March, ICE lodged a detainer for Jose Medina-Medina, an illegal alien from Venezuela, after he was arrested for shooting and killing 18-year-old Loyola College student Sheridan Gorman in Chicago, Illinois.
• In October 2025, ICE lodged a detainer for Leyter Jeferson Arauz-Medina, an illegal alien from Nicaragua, after his arrest for raping a 54-year-old woman in Chicago, Illinois.
• In October 2025, ICE arrested Radule Bojovic, an illegal alien from Montenegro, who was working as a sworn police officer with the Hanover Park Police Department.
• In September 2025, ICE lodged a detainer for Jose Javier Coronado-Meza, an illegal alien from Venezuela, after he was arrested for killing a man execution-style and then burying his body in concrete in Cook County, Illinois.
• In July 2025, ICE arrested Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, an illegal alien from Mexico, after he was released by sanctuary politicians in Lake County, despite being arrested for hiding the body of 37-year-old Megan Bos on his property.
• In January 2025, Julio Cucul-Bol, an illegal alien from Guatemala, caused a drunk-driving crash that killed 20-year-old Katie Abraham in Urbana, Illinois. Cucul-Bol now faces charges of leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death, aggravated driving under the influence resulting in death, and reckless homicide. Operation Midway Blitz was launched in September 2025 in Katie's honor.