ICE agents chased down and used force to arrest an Arlington, Virginia man, leaving him hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage

On the morning of August 11, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents chased down and arrested Jose Mejia Hernandez, 45, while he was walking to a bus stop in Arlington, Virginia. According to his lawyer, Margaret Hellerstein, two agents got out of an unmarked vehicle and pursued him; Mejia Hernandez recalled being struck by what he believed was a stun device and then waking up hours later in a hospital, with no memory of what happened in between.

DHS confirmed ICE stopped Mejia Hernandez and said in a statement that he "attempted [to] flee from the scene requiring ICE to use necessary force to gain control of the situation," adding that he was taken to a hospital "out of precaution." The agency did not answer questions about what kind of force was used, and disputed his account that he lost consciousness, telling Newsweek that "allegations that he was unconscious and woke up in a hospital bed are FALSE" and that officers "rendered aide [sic]" after he was "responsive."

Mejia Hernandez remained hospitalized for several days with ICE agents at his side. Medical records reviewed by the Guardian show he was diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury and a subarachnoid bleed, and photos show severe facial bruising and two black eyes. He was then transferred to an ICE office, fitted with a court-mandated ankle monitor, and given a notice to appear before an immigration judge. His lawyers say ICE required him to obtain paperwork specifying a date and time for a doctor-ordered MRI before it would remove the ankle monitor, delaying the scan by several days; he returned to the hospital on August 14 because his symptoms had worsened.

Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti called for an investigation into the encounter, and U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, whose district includes Arlington, said his office had received reports of other recent ICE encounters in Northern Virginia involving "unjustified violence or apparently warrantless detention."