Man fatally struck by vehicle while fleeing immigration agents
A 24-year-old Honduran man, Josué Castro Rivera (also reported in some accounts as Jose Castro Rivera), died after being struck by a vehicle on a highway in Virginia while fleeing agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The incident occurred on Interstate 264 in Norfolk, Virginia, around 11 a.m., during what federal officials described as a “targeted, intelligence-based immigration enforcement operation.” ICE stopped the vehicle in which Rivera was travelling and after assessing the occupants believed them to be in the country without legal authorization.
According to the Virginia State Police, Rivera exited the stopped vehicle and attempted to cross the highway on foot, at which point he was struck by a 2002 Ford pickup truck and pronounced dead at the scene.
A spokesman from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said one of the ICE officers attempted CPR at the scene but was unable to save Rivera. The DHS statement described his actions as “resisted heavily” and said the fatal outcome was a consequence of his flight.
Rivera had lived in the United States for about four years and was working in landscaping to support his family in Honduras, his brother told local media. The brother said he viewed the event as an injustice and is working to raise funds to repatriate the body.
This case joins other recent deaths of migrants during or after encounters with immigration enforcement, raising urgent questions about enforcement tactics, the risks of attempts to escape, and pedestrian safety during such operations.
