HOUSTON (KWTX) — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was hospitalized after being assaulted with a metal coffee cup during the arrest of a convicted sex offender Monday, the Department of Homeland Security announced.

According to the department, Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez struck the ICE officer in the face during an enforcement operation Nov. 3, causing a laceration to the officer’s lip that required 13 stitches and burns to his face.

Perez Rodriguez, from El Salvador, has convictions for sexual assault of a child under 17, multiple DUIs, child fondling and illegally re-entering the United States, authorities revealed.

The incident comes as DHS law enforcement faces a 1,000% increase in assaults during operations to remove criminal immigrants from communities, according to

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