A man fleeing federal immigration agents in St. Augustine, Florida, was hit and killed by a tractor trailer early Tuesday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, as the Department of Homeland Security faces increased scrutiny over its tactics.
The incident occurred around 6:40 a.m. during a meeting with Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the Highway Patrol said in a statement.
Four occupants of the vehicle ran away and one ran across State Road 16 and “into the path of a tractor trailer,” said Sgt. Dylan Bryan told CNN.
According to Brian, while the driver stopped and tried to provide assistance, the man died at the scene.
Man fleeing ICE agents in Florida fatally struck by vehicle, officials say
Man fleeing ICE agents in Florida fatally struck by vehicle, officials say
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The incident comes on the heels of other high-profile ICE-related deaths in the past week.
On Monday, Joan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, 26, of Colombia, was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Biddeford, Maine.
A week earlier, on July 7, Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston.
Neither was the target of an immigration enforcement operation, officials said.
In the incident in Florida on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that the person killed was a man.
His immigration status and citizenship are unknown, and the reason for the meeting with federal agents is not yet clear.
The Highway Patrol is investigating the incident, and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office assisted with traffic control.
In a statement to CNN, the Department of Homeland Security said agents were conducting an operation that resulted in the death of a Mexican citizen. HSI is investigating along with the Highway Patrol, the statement said.
Tuesday’s crash is also not the first time a person has died while fleeing immigration enforcement.
Last August, a Guatemalan man fleeing an immigration raid in Los Angeles died after being hit by an SUV on a freeway. In October, a Honduran man was fatally struck by a car on a highway in Virginia while fleeing immigration agents, the Associated Press reported. In February, a teacher was killed outside her school after a man on the run from ICE crashed into her car.
In a post on X, Florida Rep. Angie Nixon called Tuesday’s fatal crash a “tragedy” and said it was the result of an “out-of-control agency terrorizing our communities and our state.”
It is “completely understandable” for a person to want to flee when confronted by ICE agents, Adriana Rivera, spokeswoman for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said in a statement.
“When federal agents attack communities and initiate confrontations that cause panic and fear, people flee,” the statement said. “In the United States in 2026, regardless of whether anyone administers or enforces ICE, death will be a very real possible outcome.”
This story has been updated with additional information.