HOUSTON (AP) — Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Houston while driving a crew to a homebuilding site. His family and U.S. Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia stated that he had no criminal convictions and was working towards securing legal status in the U.S. Federal officials indicated that the vehicle was stopped as part of an immigration enforcement operation. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Salgado Araujo was shot after allegedly ignoring commands and attempting to ram an officer's vehicle. He was shot in the abdomen and later died at a hospital.
Witnesses reported that three other men were detained at the scene while Salgado Araujo lay injured. Civil rights groups and family members have called for an independent investigation into the shooting, expressing concerns about the reliability of ICE's accounts of the incident. The League of United Latin American Citizens has offered a reward for information and videos from witnesses. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare emphasized the community's right to the truth regarding the incident, while ICE and DHS representatives have not commented further. This incident marks at least the eighth death involving federal immigration officers since the beginning of the Trump administration's immigration policies.