ICE agent fatal shooting in Houston: DHS says unintended target
At 07:00 local time on Tuesday, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stopped a white van in Houston, Texas, and shot 52‑year‑old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says the stop was triggered by a surveillance that found a white van with a driver who resembled an intended target, and that the agent fired in self‑defence after Salgado allegedly tried to evade arrest.
Family members and the driver’s attorney dispute DHS’s account, stating that no ICE agent was positioned in front of the vehicle and that the guard was not in the line of danger. The Araujo family says their son had no criminal record, had a long‑standing career as a builder in Houston, and was simply driving himself and co‑workers to a job when the incident occurred.
DHS confirmed that half of its field officers now carry body cameras, and the others will receive them within 60 days. However, agents involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras at the time, and no videos or images have yet been released.
In an earlier statement, DHS said agents had been attempting a vehicle stop as part of a targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien, noting that Salgado had "attempted to evade arrest" and "rammed an ICE vehicle". The agency also claimed the officer fired in self‑defence, and that Salgado was taken to hospital where he later died of his injuries.
On Thursday, DHS reviewed its surveillance and found a white van weeks before the incident at an address it had monitored. Returning on Tuesday, they identified a driver who resembled the target and then initiated the traffic stop. The driver’s attorney claims this narrative contradicts the facts on site and urged the Office of Inspector General to investigate the shooting.
The shooting has triggered protests in Houston, the most populous city in Texas, and four Democratic members of Congress—Sylvia Garcia, Al Green, Lizzie Fletcher and Christian Menefee—have demanded an independent investigation into Salgado’s death. They refer to other cases where ICE agents killed US citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year, urging DHS to avoid repeating past narratives.
Federal investigations have already begun. The Office of Inspector General for DHS is investigating the incident, and the FBI Houston office is leading an inquiry into possible assault on a federal law enforcement officer. The Houston Police Department, requested by the mayor, has offered resources to support a thorough investigation and emphasized that local law enforcement has no independent jurisdiction to investigate federal officers acting in their official duties.
The Mexican government has announced it will file criminal complaints in the US over the deaths of more than a dozen of its citizens in US custody, noting that 14 Mexicans died while in ICE custody and another three during ICE "arrest operations". Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said the complaints aim to treat these deaths as criminal matters and that Mexico’s president instructed the filing.
