Journalist Shot by Federal Agent Has Spent Nearly 300 Days in ICE Detention — Even After Judge Tossed Criminal Case

Los Angeles journalist Carlitos Ricardo Parias is approaching 300 days in immigration detention, still held in a California facility even after a federal judge dismissed the criminal case against him with prejudice over violations of his constitutional rights.

The independent reporter was shot in the elbow by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during an October 2025 arrest, an encounter that has since raised questions about the government's account of what happened and Parias' medical treatment in custody.

Parias remains detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, roughly 90 miles from Los Angeles, while his immigration case continues. His prolonged detention has already surpassed several prominent cases involving journalists jailed in the US.

Two Encounters With Federal Agents

The shooting followed an earlier encounter four months before. On 13 June 2025, Parias was filming an immigration raid in South Los Angeles for his social media channel when witnesses said a federal agent struck him with a vehicle.

Video from the scene showed Parias handcuffed and crying out in pain before a bystander eventually drove him to hospital.

Four months later, federal agents in unmarked vehicles boxed in Parias' car near downtown Los Angeles while attempting to arrest him on an immigration warrant.

Body-camera footage showed an ICE officer breaking the passenger-side window as Parias' car revved and its wheels spun. By the time the officer fired, however, the vehicle did not appear to be moving. Parias had his hands raised and was asking why he was being detained. The officer shifted his gun between his hands while trying to open the passenger door before the weapon discharged, striking Parias in the elbow. A deputy US marshal was also injured by the ricocheting bullet.

Prosecutors subsequently charged Parias with assaulting a federal officer, alleging that he had rammed law-enforcement vehicles while trying to evade arrest. Body-camera footage later raised questions about that account.

In December, US District Judge Fernando M. Olguin dismissed the indictment with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot be refiled. The judge found that Parias had been denied meaningful access to his lawyers while in immigration detention and also cited the government's failure to meet discovery deadlines, including the late release of crucial body-camera footage. The Justice Department appealed the ruling.

Reporting From Inside ICE Detention

Parias had previously been granted bond in his criminal case, but after leaving US Marshals custody in November, he was transferred directly into ICE detention as his separate immigration proceedings continued.

From inside Adelanto, Parias has continued doing what first built his following: reporting.

Through visitors and accounts shared with outside journalists, he has documented alleged cockroach infestations and worm-like organisms in drinking water at the facility.

His medical treatment has also become a source of concern. Parias says his gunshot wound has not received adequate care and that his injured arm has turned purple.

Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who visited Parias at Adelanto in May, offered a stark assessment of his condition: 'What I saw looked like an arm that was on the verge of being amputated.'

The case has since helped spur calls for greater scrutiny of medical care inside immigration detention facilities.

Criminal Case Gone, Immigration Detention Continues

The government reportedly plans to move Parias to a facility in San Diego where he can receive medical treatment. But the transfer would put him even farther from his Los Angeles-based family and lawyers and remove him from Adelanto just as his reporting on conditions there gains wider attention.

His continued detention is possible because the dismissal of his federal criminal case did not resolve his separate immigration proceedings. Parias could therefore remain in ICE custody while that case moves forward.

That distinction has left Parias in an extraordinary position: the criminal prosecution stemming from the encounter in which he was shot has been dismissed, yet months later, he remains behind bars.

And even there, he has continued reporting, turning the detention centre itself into his latest beat.