Greater Houston

Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, suffered leg and hip injuries and a shattered ankle Saturday when an unmarked ICE vehicle struck him during a pursuit in Houston, according to advocates and his attorney. He has already undergone one surgery but will need additional procedures once swelling subsides, and he cannot bear weight on his leg for six weeks, said Cesar Espinosa of the advocacy group FIEL.

ICE said it attempted a vehicle stop targeting Jose Mendoza Cervantes, an unauthorized immigrant with prior removals and arrests, and that occupants fled on foot, with Parra running in front of an ICE vehicle. Advocates and Parra's attorney, Kim Bruno, say Parra, a 34-year U.S. resident with no criminal record, did not know Mendoza Cervantes and fled because the vehicles were unmarked, lacked sirens, and had tinted windows. Video shows the vehicle crossing a median before striking him. Parra remains in ICE custody at a hospital. Local authorities are investigating. The incident follows new federal guidance tightening rules for vehicle stops, including requirements for marked vehicles and body cameras.

The family of Innocent Rutahagara Batamula, 59, a longtime Richmond, Texas resident, is calling for his release from an ICE detention facility in Mississippi, where he has been held for nearly three months. Batamula, a Tanzanian citizen who entered the U.S. in 2001 on an F-1 student visa, was taken into ICE custody in July after a Harris County arrest for false emissions inspections that was later dismissed. Rather than being released, he was transferred to ICE custody and eventually moved to a facility hundreds of miles from home.

His family says Batamula had complied with routine ICE check-ins for roughly 14 years, most recently about six weeks before his arrest. They note he was previously granted an Order of Supervision in 2013 and ask why similar terms, such as an ankle monitor, can't be arranged now while his reopened immigration case proceeds. Batamula has a lengthy immigration history, including a 2011 federal conviction for false statements on a passport application and a pending relative petition. Family members say his detention has cut off his income and strained his household, including his wife's health.

Houston has seen a sharp rise in vandalism targeting Flock Safety license-plate reading cameras, with 74 units damaged in 2026 as of Aug. 28, up from 38 as of July 28. That means 36 cameras were vandalized in a single month, according to public records obtained by ABC13.

The city has paid Flock roughly $4.6 million since 2022. Replacing a damaged camera without a protection plan can cost $350 to $800, and it remains unclear whether Houston taxpayers would bear those costs. Mayor John Whitmire said he was unsure whether the city has insurance covering the cameras.

Critics, including community group Stand Up Houston, say the vandalism reflects frustration with unresolved privacy and surveillance concerns, and are pushing cities to cancel Flock contracts. Responses vary regionally: Manvel voted to end its contract, Willis shut its cameras off pending review, while Conroe voted to continue funding its program, with police there defending the technology's usefulness.

Harris County and El Paso County, along with the city of Columbus, Ohio, and the Nashville metro government, have filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA over new conditions attached to the Homeland Security Grant Program, including the Urban Area Security Initiative. The rules require five election-procedure changes — such as moving toward hand-marked paper ballots and adding poll-worker citizenship verification — as a condition of receiving full grant funding, with FEMA authorized to withhold 20% until compliance is confirmed. For Harris County, that could mean nearly $4.7 million in withheld public safety funding.

The plaintiffs argue the conditions are unrelated to the grants' security purpose, were imposed without congressional authorization, and conflict with state election law. The Trump administration contends election infrastructure is a national security matter. Legal experts say the case, which seeks to block the rules while litigation proceeds, could ultimately reach the Supreme Court, though changes are unlikely before the November 2026 election given the timeline.