Fatal ICE Killing Of Houston Man Sparks Political Furor
Some Democrats are demanding an independent investigation into the fatal ICE shooting on Tuesday of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston—at least the third killing this year connected to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns in major cities.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus asked Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Friday for a “full, independent and transparent investigation” into the shooting, noting the agency “has provided no evidence to support” claims made hours after his death Salgado Araujo “weaponized” his vehicle “in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer.”
The letter called it a “predictable consequence of an enforcement regime driven by arrest quotas rather than public safety,” noting ICE appears to have ramped up its anti-immigration crackdown, arresting 2,000 people per day in the final five days of June.
The three men in the vehicle with Salgado Araujo said there were no officers in front of or behind the vehicle when they were stopped, The Washington Post reported, citing statements obtained from the men’s attorney, Hugo Balderas-Ibarra.
Balderas-Ibarra told the Post the men said agents “came in and started shooting from the sides.”
The circumstances surrounding the shooting—a chaotic scene, followed immediately by a statement from DHS claiming agents were threatened—mirrors those surrounding the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed in two separate incidents in Minneapolis in January.
Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., also called for an investigation into the shooting, and Reps. Sylvia Garcia, Lizzie Fletcher, Al Green and Christian Menefee, all Texas Democrats, sent a letter to DHS this week demanding a probe.
“DHS and ICE continue to lose the American people’s trust and confidence. Instead of answers and accountability, DHS and ICE released a statement echoing the same stories we have heard before,” Garcia, Fletcher, Green and Menefee said in their letter. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said “tragedies like this are exactly why we can’t keep funding Trump’s ICE” in a post on X Friday, adding that “the agents must be held accountable for his killing.” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said “we absolutely cannot trust ICE to conduct a fair and impartial investigation,” in a statement, adding, “ICE has consistently lied about similar incidents with Renee Good and Alex Pretti,” referring to the Trump administration’s allegations that they were trying to harm law enforcement, despite video evidence in the moments leading up to their shootings contradicting their claims. Kamala Harris said she and others “continue to be outraged by the horrific and cruel actions of ICE under the Trump administration” and joined Salgado Araujo’s son in calling for an “immediate, independent, and transparent investigation.” Salgado Araujo’s son, Ronaldo Salgado, described his father as “a simple man, a family man, a man of routine” who “dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream,” in an emotional press conference. “He did not deserve to die, he did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of ‘Mexican man shot and killed by ICE,’” he said.
A Trump official told the Post the ICE officers involved in the shooting were not wearing body camera footage. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus demanded in its letter that DHS preserve all evidence and immediately release it to the public. Federal officials have refused to release the name of the officer who shot Salgado Araujo.
Salgado Araujo’s family said he was an undocumented immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for more than three decades, and a business owner with no criminal record. The men were headed to a construction site in a work van when an unmarked vehicle began following them early Tuesday before turning on its warning lights, the passengers told Balderas-Ibarra, according to the Post. ICE vehicles then surrounded the van and agents began firing from the passenger side of the vehicle, hitting Salgado Araujo in the abdomen, according to the eyewitnesses’ accounts. The three men who were in the vehicle with Salgado Araujo were detained and are undergoing deportation proceedings. DHS said officers stopped the van because someone inside of it resembled a person they were looking for, according to PBS. A DHS spokesperson told the New York Times Salgado Araujo was not their intended target and none of the people in the van ended up being the person they were searching for.
ICE And CBP Heads Refuse Questions On Alex Pretti And Renee Good’s Deaths In Heated Congressional Hearing (Forbes)