What is at risk is public confidence in local oversight of federal immigration enforcement, after José Mejía Hernández, 45, was hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury following an arrest in Arlington on 11 August. Lawyers provided photos and medical records showing severe facial bruising and two black eyes, and a hospital record diagnosing a “mild TBI” and a “subarachnoid bleed.”
According to counsel, Mejía Hernández was walking to a bus stop when two agents left an unmarked vehicle and chased him. He said he remembered being hit by some kind of stun gun and did not recall events until he woke up hours later in a hospital. A DHS spokesperson confirmed Immigration and Customs Enforcement stopped Mejía Hernández, saying he “attempted [to] flee from the scene requiring ICE to use necessary force to gain control of the situation” and that he was taken to a hospital “out of precaution.”
He remained in hospital for several days with ICE presence at his bedside, and a nurse reportedly told him he had suffered a brain bleed. Physicians ordered an MRI, but his lawyers say the ankle monitor he was fitted with at an ICE office prevented the scan until paperwork and coordination were arranged. ICE told him he needed scheduling paperwork and a tracking app on his phone before the monitor could be removed and reattached, and the MRI took place several days after it was first ordered.
DHS disputed Mejía Hernández’s account that he lost consciousness, emailing that “Allegations that he was unconscious and woke up in a hospital bed are FALSE,” and asserting officers rendered aid and found him responsive. The department also said he is from Mexico, was in the country without authorization, and is now in removal proceedings. The DHS added, “We take allegations regarding misconduct seriously and cherish the public’s trust. We work tirelessly to uphold the rule of law and hold ourselves accountable.”
Margaret Hellerstein, one of Mejía Hernández’s lawyers, said the injuries suggest agents used force without justification and pointed out the DHS statement does not allege her client behaved violently. She asked, “Is ICE’s narrative that it is acceptable and appropriate to beat a person in the head until he has a brain bleed and traumatic brain injury just because he was trying to escape?” and added, “He has been treated as less than human. It’s just unconscionable how unimportant this man’s life is to these people.”
Photos of the injuries spread on social media and drew condemnation from local officials. Congressman Don Beyer called the injuries and Mejía Hernández’s account “extremely disturbing,” and said he is seeking further details and urged that, if excessive force occurred, agents be held accountable. Beyer also said his office has received reports of other recent ICE encounters in northern Virginia that included allegedly unjustified force or apparent warrantless detention. Arlington’s top prosecutor, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, said she was “deeply disturbed by the reports that ICE agents severely injured” Mejía Hernández and has contacted local police and the state attorney general’s office, urging a thorough investigation.
The case now sits at the intersection of criminal custody, immigration proceedings, and medical care. Local and federal authorities, elected officials, and prosecutors have demanded more information, and those competing accounts, including DHS’s denial that he was unconscious, are likely to determine whether any formal inquiry finds misconduct or procedural failures.
