Representative Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) disclosed Thursday that the Mexican national fatally shot by an ICE officer in Houston earlier this week was not the individual the agency was pursuing. Garcia, whose district includes parts of Houston, stated that acting ICE Director David Venturella personally informed her that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo “was not a target.”
“As his family has always said, he is a good, solid, decent human being,” Garcia told MS NOW. “He was a father. He was a hard worker.” She also noted that the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed there is no body camera footage of the incident.
Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant who had lived in the U.S. for over 35 years working as a homebuilder, had no criminal record. His family maintains he was on the verge of obtaining legal status when he was killed Tuesday morning.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, initially stated that officers were conducting a “targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien” and attempted a vehicle stop. According to a DHS spokesperson, Salgado Araujo allegedly drove his car into an ICE vehicle, ignored verbal commands, and “weaponized his vehicle” in an attempt to run over an officer, who then fired in self-defense.
Garcia questioned the official account, drawing parallels to the fatal shooting of Renee Good by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this year. “They’re saying he weaponized the car, that he refused orders, that he was going to run over them and that they shot him in self-defense,” she said. “He was the driver. How did they shoot him in the right side of his stomach?”
In a letter sent Wednesday to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and acting Director Venturella, Garcia and several other Democratic lawmakers demanded a “complete and transparent account” of the killing. Texas House Democratic Caucus Leader Gene Wu echoed the call, asserting that “whenever a law enforcement encounter ends in the loss of life, the public deserves a full, transparent, and independent accounting of what happened.” Wu emphasized that this standard should apply to all agencies, especially federal ones like ICE.
The controversy has also drawn international attention. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Thursday that Mexico will file criminal complaints regarding Mexican citizens who have died in U.S. federal immigration custody. “We cannot turn a blind eye to the Mexicans who have died,” Sheinbaum said, specifically referencing Salgado Araujo’s death. This development aligns with broader scrutiny of ICE operations, as seen in recent calls to abolish the agency and demands for probes into officer-involved fatalities. Meanwhile, related reporting has highlighted the political dimensions of immigration enforcement, including a push by GOP lawmakers to enact Trump's birthright citizenship ban and ongoing debates over lawmaker health transparency.
The Hill has reached out to ICE and DHS for additional comment.
