An illegal immigrant with a prior conviction for domestic violence dragged an ICE officer with his car and ran him over trying to flee arrest outside Chicago — the kind of direct assault on federal law enforcement that happens when sanctuary politicians shield illegal aliens from consequences.
Jose Garnica-Naranjo, 32, a Mexican citizen, was taken into custody Wednesday, a day after he violently resisted a targeted immigration enforcement operation in Chicago Heights, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The officer he hospitalized was treated for contusions, cuts, and scrapes to his legs and released. Tests confirmed no broken bones.
Here is what happened: ICE officers spotted Garnica-Naranjo leaving a home Tuesday morning and followed his car before attempting a traffic stop. When officers approached and told him to kill the engine, he refused. When they tried to physically remove him from the vehicle, Garnica hit the gas — with an ERO Chicago officer partially inside the car through the driver-side window. He drove over a raised center median planted with trees, throwing the officer from the vehicle, and then struck the injured officer as he sped away.
ICE noted that Garnica-Naranjo's criminal record includes prior convictions for domestic violence and assault. He was in the country illegally. He had already been through the system. And he was still here, free to assault a federal agent.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin did not mince words. "This illegal alien used his vehicle to assault one of our ICE officers, hospitalizing the officer," he said. Mullin cited a "staggering rise in anti-ICE violence, with our officers facing a more than 1,600% increase in assaults against them."
Mullin placed the blame squarely on the politicians who built the sanctuary system that let Garnica-Naranjo walk free. "This is the result of anti-ICE rhetoric from sanctuary politicians like Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker," he said. "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."
All three outlets covering the story — the New York Post, Fox News, and NewsBreak — carried essentially the same account from DHS, with no meaningful disagreement on the facts. Nobody disputed the criminal history. Nobody disputed the officer's injuries. The question none of them pressed: how many more Garnica-Naranjos are walking around Chicago Heights right now because the state of Illinois decided federal immigration law is optional?
A 1,600% spike in assaults on ICE officers. A domestic violence convict still on the street. An officer dragged and run over. The regime that invited him in owns every bit of it.
