ICE Officer Fatally Shoots Immigrant in Houston; Hundreds Mourn

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old immigrant from Mexico, was fatally shot Tuesday while driving his construction crew to work. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer opened fire as Salgado Araujo was behind the wheel of his van. The family disputes ICE's account that the victim rammed an ICE vehicle, noting he was close to obtaining legal status.

Four Democratic members of Congress from the Houston area pledged at a Saturday vigil to push for an independent investigation into the shooting. Representative Christian Menefee said Salgado Araujo's blood is on Donald Trump's hands and called the killing a murder by the government.

According to Democratic Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, federal agents were looking for someone else when they tried to stop Salgado Araujo's white van. The Department of Homeland Security said an officer fired in self-defense after Salgado Araujo, described as an "illegal alien," rammed an ICE vehicle, but they provided no evidence.

Three men in the van with Salgado Araujo, according to a lawyer who has spoken with them, said he was shot through a passenger window and that the officer was not in front of the van or in danger at the time.

Salgado Araujo entered the U.S. more than 30 years ago, settling in Houston with his wife and raising three sons who attended college, becoming a teacher, an engineer, and an engineering student. Neighbors and friends recall him as hardworking and soft-spoken, enjoying music on the porch after long workdays.

This is the 10th fatal shooting by federal immigration officials since the second Trump administration began, according to a Guardian review of public reports.