A man died in St. Augustine, Florida, on July 14 when he was hit by a tractor-trailer when he was apparently fleeing from immigration authorities.
St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office
A 28-year-old Mexican man died in an apparent traffic accident Tuesday morning following an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations agents in St. Augustine, marking the third death involving ICE in a week.
The man ran away from agents and was hit by a truck, Florida Highway Patrol Master Sergeant Dylan Bryan told the Miami Herald. FHP was not involved in the operation, but is currently investigating the incident, which took place shortly before 7 a.m.
“Preliminary information revealed that an encounter between HSI and ICE agents occurred in the parking lot of a local gas station/convenience store,” Bryan wrote in a statement. He said that four people ran off and one was hit by a tractor-trailer after running across State Road 16.
The immigration status of the victim is unclear, as is the reason immigration agents were involved.
The Herald reached Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who said the agency is investigating, as is standard practice, but declined to provide further details. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that DHS law enforcement conducted an operation near St. Johns, Florida, on Tuesday, and that the death is under investigation.
The tractor-trailer driver stopped and tried to help the victim, Bryan said. A photo published by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office shows a truck for the company Eggland’s Best blocking the highway.
ICE handles detentions and deportations of immigrants. HSI is the law enforcement arm of Homeland Security and has been involved in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies responded to help FHP with the investigation.
This is the third person to have died in an incident involving ICE since July 7. The deaths come as federal and state agencies in Florida have been picking up people at workplaces, public sites, and streets under President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that ICE had suspended traffic stops after two fatal shootings over the last week.
On July 7, ICE agents in Texas fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado, an undocumented father from Mexico. While the agency said Salgado tried to run over officers with his car, his family has disputed that version of events. In Maine on Monday, a 26-year-old man from Colombia was shot and killed when ICE agents were pursuing another target, according to officials and lawmakers.
The deaths have sparked outrage from community leaders, lawyers, and lawmakers, who say that the Trump administration is not holding its officers accountable for their treatment of immigrants.
“My heart breaks for the family and loved ones of the person who lost their life this morning in St. Johns County,” State Rep. Angie Nixon, of Jacksonville, said in a statement Tuesday. “As the horrifying details of this crash come to light, one thing is abundantly clear: This tragedy is a direct result of an out-of-control agency terrorizing our communities and our state.
“Whether it’s ICE agents gunning down a father in the streets of Houston, shooting a young man in Maine, or conducting operations right here in Northeast Florida that result in a deadly crash, the outcome is the same: fear, chaos, and death,” Nixon added. “Abolish ICE.”
This is the third incident in the past year in which someone has been killed by a moving vehicle while running away from ICE officers. In August 2025 in Los Angeles, an SUV on a freeway hit and killed Roberto Carlos Valdez, a Guatemalan immigrant fleeing from an ICE raid at a Home Depot. Jose Castro-Rivera, a Honduran immigrant, died in October when running away after a traffic stop on a highway in Norfolk, Virginia.
“It is perfectly understandable that someone has that reaction after being chased by agents who, in the last seven days, have killed two innocent men,” said Adriana Rivera, communications director for the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “When federal agents descend on communities and initiate encounters that spark panic and fear, people run. They run because they are afraid.”
The Florida Immigrant Coalition, a state-wide advocacy group, released a statement Tuesday demanding a “full, transparent investigation” into the death in St. Augustine as well as those in Texas and Maine earlier this week.
“No one, no matter what papers they have or don’t have, should die at the hands of agents,” the statement said. “No agency or individual in this country has the right to be judge, jury and executioner.”
This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 2:57 PM.
el Nuevo Herald
Syra Ortiz Blanes covers immigration for the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. Previously, she was the Puerto Rico and Spanish Caribbean reporter for the Heralds through Report for America.
Miami Herald
Claire Healy is an Esserman Investigative Fellow at The Miami Herald. Prior to her current role, she wrote for The Washington Post, where she was a 2024 Pulitzer Finalist for “Searching for Maura.”