ICE Officer Burned in Metal Cup Attack During Houston Arrest; DHS Links Assault to Surge in Threats Nationwide

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was injured Monday after being struck in the face with a metal coffee cup during an arrest operation in Houston, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The officer sustained a deep laceration requiring 13 stitches and burns to his face. DHS said the suspect, Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez — a previously deported Salvadoran national with convictions including sexual assault of a minor, child fondling, and multiple DUIs — attacked the officer as agents attempted to take him into custody.

Perez, who had been deported in 2013 and again in 2020, allegedly reentered the country illegally at an unknown time and location. He is now in ICE custody. "Anyone who lays a hand on our ICE officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Assistant Secretary for External Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said through an official DHS statement.

McLaughlin also made a point to link the assault to a rise in violence against ICE officials:

"Our brave ICE officers are facing record-high assaults—including a 1000% increase in assaults against them—as they lock up pedophiles and other depraved criminals to keep American families safe"

She concluded that Perez "is about to find out the hard way that there's a new sheriff in town and emphasized that, under President Trump and Secretary Noem. Perez can "no longer pose a threat to Americans."

DHS said in October that death threats directed at ICE officers have increased 8,000%, as CBS News points out. The FBI and DHS issued a joint intelligence bulletin on Oct. 1 warning that "domestic violent extremists" have escalated attacks against ICE facilities, noting a September shooting at a Dallas ICE facility that killed one detainee and injured two others.

The Houston incident occurred as ICE reported completing a 10-day operation in Southeast Texas that resulted in 1,505 arrests. ICE Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford said officers are operating under "increasingly dangerous" conditions driven by "violent political rhetoric and intentionally false information." He said the operation removed multiple gang members, aggravated felons, and child predators from the community.