In St. Paul, Minnesota, a tense incident unfolded on Sunday when federal immigration officers were injured after a Cuban undocumented immigrant allegedly rammed into ICE vehicles and struck agents.
The individual in question, identified as Juan Carlos Rodrigues Romero, was spotted by ICE officers as he got into a white SUV near Westminster Street in St. Paul. A lawful traffic stop was initiated on December 21.
Officers requested Romero to lower his window, but he allegedly refused. They warned him that if he continued to disregard their lawful commands, they would be forced to break the window.
Defying the officers, Romero reportedly drove off, hitting one of the agents in his attempt to escape.
The Department of Homeland Security reported that ICE officers sustained injuries during the confrontation with the Cuban undocumented immigrant, who had entered the U.S. through CBP One.
The chase continued until Romero pulled into a parking lot near his home, where he collided with two parked cars.
Officers again stopped Romero and ordered him out of the vehicle, but he allegedly rammed an ICE unit and struck another officer.
The officer who was struck defensively fired two rounds from his service weapon at Romero’s vehicle, ICE said, but no one was hit and Romero drove off.
ICE officers were injured after a Cuban illegal alien rammed vehicles, struck agents and resisted arrest in St. Paul. The suspect entered the U.S. via CBP One. (DHS)
Romero then drove to the front entrance of his apartment complex, rammed another ICE vehicle and attempted to flee on foot toward his apartment.
Officers chased Romero down and brought him to the ground, where he violently resisted arrest and bit one of the officers, ICE said.
Romero was eventually subdued and placed in handcuffs.
Two officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Romero, who remains in ICE custody, was also transported to a hospital for evaluation.
ICE said Romero was admitted into the U.S. in 2024 under the Biden administration’s CBP One app.
CBP One mobile app searching for an appointment to enter the United States outside the temporary stay of the National Migration Institute (INM) in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, on May 5, 2023. (HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
In April, migrants who entered the U.S. under CBP One had their protections terminated and were ordered to leave the U.S. immediately or face a permanent ban from reentering the U.S.
The app was used by nearly 1 million migrants to schedule appointments at official ports of entry before they were paroled into the U.S. The migrants were permitted to seek asylum and given temporary work authorization for two years while they waited for the outcomes of their respective proceedings.
Trump ended the use of the CBP One app to parole migrants on his first day in office. His administration has also paused applications for parole programs and allowed ICE to cancel parole statuses of migrants.
The CBP One app launched in January 2023 and was used to admit more than 936,500 people through December 2024, the New York Post reported, citing DHS data.
The Biden administration had expanded the use of the CBP One app to allow migrants to enter the U.S. at ports of entry or via a separate parole process. That process involved them uploading information including a photograph.
