ICE Agent Injured In Scuffle While Trying To Detain Undocumented Resident In North Austin

NORTH AUSTIN, TX — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was hurt in a scuffle Friday morning while trying to detain a suspected undocumented worker in Northwest Austin, officials said.

Austin-Travis County EMS medics were called to the scene along U.S. Highway 183, north of Anderson Mill Road, according to media reports. The incident comes as ICE has bolstered its immigration enforcement in Austin, where several people have been stopped by agents and readied for deportation proceedings.

EMS medics told KUT that one person was transported to an emergency room but wouldn't say if the patient was the ICE agent or a person targeted for detention. Austin Police, meanwhile, confirmed to the Austin-American Statesman that the ICE officer was treated for minor injuries.

Austin police were called to assist after family members of the targeted resident became agitated, police said. KUT reported EMS was called a second time to the second for a separate medical call but the number of people reported as a result is unknown.

The incident comes on the heels of several cases where people have been stopped by ICE agents driving black, unmarked vehicles against a backdrop of greater enforcement of immigration laws voiced by Donald Trump. Rumors had swirled last weekend that such ICE raids in Austin were imminent, and immigrant advocates confirmed that at least three individuals have been detained this week toward setting them up for deportation proceedings.

At a vigil staged Thursday night in front of a federal building, Reyna Alvarado stood with her 12-year-old daughter as she detailed the detention of her husband as he headed out to start his landscaping job that same morning. During the vigil, an ICE Out of Austin officials said they had received reports of two other individuals similarly detained at their jobs and two more reports of immigration officials visiting area schools inquiring about parents' immigration status.

Unlike those working at ground level in advocating for immigrants' rights, others seemed surprised by the sudden appearance of ICE agents in the city handling arrests directly. Travis County has emerged as a ground zero for such action given the more nuanced stance of Sheriff Sally Hernandez, who said her office would focus on detaining on high-level offenders who are undocumented rather than the population at large.

Gov. Greg Abbott has expressed vehement opposition to the sheriff's approach, calling for forceful immigration enforcement efforts of all member of the undocumented community, regardless of whether or not they have criminal records. He later stripped the county of $1.5 million in grant funds as a result of the sheriff's stance, jeopardizing community programs unrelated to law enforcement in the process.

"People don't know if this is true or a lie," Alvarado said of the sudden ICE presence in Austin as talk of immigration crackdown heats up. "They pulled him over," she said of her husband's detention. The surprise was that they were immigration agents."

District 6 Austin City Council member Jimmy Flannigan also registered surprise at the current climate marked by detentions of the undocumented, particularly in his district. He said via Twitter that he would look into the matter and attempt to discern how ICE selects its targets.

Greg Casar, representing district 4 on the city council, posted on his Facebook page about the crackdown he sees as an offshoot of political calls by conservative lawmakers for bolstered enforcement of immigration laws.

"The community needs to know that we have confirmed a large amount of Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in Austin in the last 24 hours, particularly in the North Lamar and Rundberg area," Casar wrote to his constituents. "I believe ICE is out in public arresting people in order to retaliate against our community for standing up for our values against people like Abbott and Trump."

He condemned the actions, saying they only sowed fear in the community: "ICE actions like these are beyond reprehensible. They instill fear in the community, and they make everyday people fear for their lives. Trump and his allies will do everything they can to divide Americans, invoke fear in vulnerable neighborhoods, and demonize an entire community of people. Undoubtedly, ICE officials will attempt to justify themselves by holding up the actions of a few people to imply that all undocumented immigrants are criminals. This is disturbing and morally wrong."

While reports of ICE detentions have begun to trickle into council offices, those living in affected neighborhoods are also ahead of the curve, witnessing the sudden presence of agents in their midst.

"So ICE is in my neighborhood, on my street, racially profiling people to pull over, detain & deport," one resident tweeted. "Really not loving Trump's America."

The executive director of Workers Defense Project, a nonprofit immigrants advocate group, weighed in during a noon press conference staged at Little Walnut Creek Library, 835 W Rundberg Lane.

"We are deeply concerned about increased immigration enforcement activity in our community," WDP Executive Director José Garza said. "These activities come on the heels of recent public threats by state and national elected officials. These attacks on the hard-working men and women in our city are reprehensible." "

Garza called for a more methodical approach in dealing with a population that represents what he views as an valuable workforce benefiting the state economy.

"Immigrant families are the backbone of our Texas economy," he said. "We need common sense immigration policies at the state and local level that keep our community safe and ensure the Texas businesses and economy thrive."

Workers Defense Project has been joined by officials at the Texas AFLCIO, local labor advocates UNITE-HERE and Education Austin, Grassroots Leadership, in decrying the aggressive enforcement by ICE.

But not everyone was decrying local ICE detentions. Dawn Buckingham, a state senator, fired back at the councilmen decrying ICE's moves on Friday afternoon, saying their critiques puts the agents in danger of retaliation.

"It is outrageous that two elected city council members have publicly denounced legal law enforcement activities in favor of criminal aliens here illegally," Buckingham wrote on her Facebook page and Twitter account. "Not only does questioning law enforcement put our communities at risk, it paints a bull's-eye on the backs of the brave men and women sworn to protect us under extremely challenging circumstances."

The Austin ophthalmologist Dawn Buckingham won the race for Texas Senate District 24 in November. She said she would continue to support the controversial Senate Bill 4 currently making its way to the House for final passage after clearing the Senate, a proposal that aims to eliminate so-called sanctuary cities by assessing fines — and potential jail time — for law enforcement officials deemed as not forcefully cooperating with ICE in effecting deportations.

"On behalf of Senate District 24 and those who want a safe Travis County and a safe Texas, I will continue to support Senate Bill 4 and Governor Abbott's efforts to prohibit sanctuary policies," Buckingham wrote. "I will always 'back the blue' by standing with local, state and federal law enforcement who risk their lives to protect ours."

>>> Photo of vigil scene, above, by Tony Cantú; cell phone image of detention of a person detained along Riverside Drive on suspicion of being undocumented courtesy of ICE Out of Austin