ST. PAUL, Minn. — A dramatic confrontation unfolded in Minnesota’s capital on Sunday when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer discharged his weapon at a Cuban national residing illegally in the U.S. This incident occurred after the individual allegedly struck two ICE agents with his SUV, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

In a tense encounter outside the man’s St. Paul apartment, the immigrant reportedly attempted to flee on foot after biting one of the agents. Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin detailed these events in an email, highlighting the violent struggle that ensued as officers sought to detain him.

Fortunately, the Cuban national was not injured by the gunfire, and the agents hit by the vehicle sustained non-life-threatening injuries. All parties involved were transported to a hospital for medical evaluation, McLaughlin confirmed.

This incident comes amid escalating tensions in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, where federal immigration enforcement efforts have intensified. Just last week, ICE operations in nearby Minneapolis sparked clashes with protesters, underscoring the community’s growing unrest.

According to McLaughlin, the man apprehended on Sunday had initially entered the U.S. in 2024 through a program introduced by the former Biden administration. This now-defunct initiative permitted migrants lacking official entry documentation to stay in the country while their asylum claims were processed.

The incident occurred Sunday morning. St. Paul police said in a statement that they were called to the area by reports of shots being fired, only to learn that the ICE agent had fired the shots.

ICE agents saw the man getting into his SUV and approached the vehicle, McLaughlin said, identifying themselves as ICE agents. When the man refused to roll down his window, they told him that they would break it if he continued not to comply, she said.

The man drove off, striking one agent, and went to a parking lot of his apartment complex, where agents stopped him again and ordered him out of the SUV, McLaughlin said. He rammed his SUV into an ICE vehicle, striking the second agent, prompting the shots, which did not hit him, she said.

After ramming another ICE vehicle, the man got out of his SUV and attempted to flee into his apartment, but agents brought him to the ground, McLaughlin said.