CITATION: A man shot by ICE in Houston was not the intended target, US officials state
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security announced that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, was killed during a traffic stop in Houston on Tuesday morning. The agency said the arresting agents had been monitoring a white van that matched the description of a target for a planned deportation operation.
DHS spokespersons said the officer fired his weapon in self‑defence after the driver allegedly attempted to evade arrest by ramming an ICE vehicle. However, family members and the driver’s co‑workers argue their account contradicts the official narrative. They claim the officers sat outside the van and never positioned themselves in front of the vehicle.
Salgado, 52, had been a builder in Houston for thirty years. He had no criminal record and his family said he was close to receiving a work permit. He was driving himself and three coworkers to a job site when the stop occurred.
The Incident has prompted protests throughout Houston, the state’s most populous city. Four Democratic congress members—Sylvia Garcia, Al Green, Lizzie Fletcher and Christian Menefee—have requested a full independent probe into the shooting. They cited earlier cases of federal agents using excessive force in Minneapolis as precedent.
The Office of Inspector General of DHS has opened an investigation. In addition, the FBI in Houston is leading a separate inquiry into the alleged assault on a federal law‑enforcement officer. Houston police have offered support, but the local chief highlighted that federal agencies are not subject to independent jurisdiction under state law.
The Mexican foreign ministry announced it will file criminal complaints in the United States for the deaths of more than a dozen Mexican nationals in ICE custody. It noted that 14 Mexicans have died while in custody and three more during ICE arrests.
The agency calls the shooting a matter of self‑defence and not an intentional use of deadly force.
