Published July 8, 2026
The family of a man killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Texas has called for an investigation into the incident.
Wednesday’s appeal came a day after ICE officers shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop in Houston. It is the latest high-profile killing by immigration officials amid President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
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Salgado Araujo’s family said he was working to drive crews to the housing construction site at the time of his murder. They said he may have feared that the people in the unmarked vehicle that had stopped him were trying to steal his tools.
Additionally, the Mexican national has lived in the United States for 35 years and said he is working toward obtaining legal status. He had no criminal history and worked tirelessly to support his three American sons, all of whom were American citizens.
“He didn’t deserve to die. He didn’t deserve to be in the headlines ‘Mexican man shot dead by ICE,'” his son Ronaldo Salgado said at a news conference.
“He deserved to live a quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a husband, a father, and a job creator for dozens of men who wanted the American dream,” he said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Salgado Araujo attempted to ram an ICE officer, who responded by firing shots. Earlier, it was announced that Salgado Araujo’s car had collided with an ICE vehicle.
No videos or images of the incident have been released, but witnesses recorded the aftermath.
DHS announced that Salgado Araujo was targeted by agents because he lived in the United States without documentation.
The Trump administration initially said its mass deportation drive targeted only criminals, but soon said it would consider anyone in the U.S. who is undocumented as a criminal. Illegal entry into the United States is a civil, not criminal, violation.
Human rights groups accused immigration officials of using “dragnet” techniques under pressure to meet detention quotas. The Trump administration denies the existence of such quotas.
At a press conference Wednesday, Roman Palomares, president of the League of Latin American Citizens, said the immigration crackdown has created a “defenseless situation for Latino immigrants,” with police officers thinking they can “shoot them and get an explanation later.”
Initial details of the Texas murder case are similar to the January killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota. DHS officials initially said Ms. Good, a U.S. citizen, was attempting to ram an ICE agent when she was fatally shot, but footage showed her stepping to the side of the car and maneuvering away from the agent who opened fire.
Just days later, 37-year-old Alex Pretti was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection agents while attempting to document immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis.
A federal investigation into the killing, which came amid a surge of crackdowns in the city, has revealed little. In an unusual move, the Justice Department has rejected a separate civil rights investigation into the murder of Nicole Goode.
“Work to give us the American Dream”
At a press conference on Wednesday, Ronaldo Salgado said his mother told him something bad had happened and he desperately searched for his father at the scene.
At some point during the search, he was shown a video of his father with fatal injuries.
“I recognized him not by his appearance, but by the sound of him lying on the road screaming for help,” Salgado said.
“After nearly 35 years of working to give us the American Dream, he made the choice to begin the process of obtaining the American Dream through a work permit,” Salgado said.
“We had dotted all the I’s, crossed all the T’s, filled out all the paperwork and attended all the appointments. He was close to getting legal status.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also condemned the killing and said she was considering legal action and filing a complaint with the United Nations.
“Once again one of our fellow citizens has tragically died in the United States due to detention issues, even though their only ‘crime’ has not yet been properly documented,” said Sheinbaum.
The shooting was at least the eighth person to die in an encounter with federal immigration agents since the Trump administration began its immigration crackdown.
