ICE Shooting in Houston: DHS Says Victim Was Not the Intended Target
A man fatally shot by immigration agents in Houston on Tuesday was not the intended target of the operation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Thursday. The incident involved Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who was stopped at 07:00 local time while driving to work and was killed shortly thereafter.
The DHS statement said agents saw a “white van with an individual who resembled the target” and launched a traffic stop. Agents later claimed Salgado attempted to evade arrest by ramming an ICE vehicle and that the officer fired in self‑defence.
None of the agents wore body cameras during the stop and the agency has not released any images or footage. The DHS spokesperson announced that half of its field officers are now equipped with body cameras, with the rest expected to receive them within 60 days.
Salgado, age 52, had worked as a builder for three decades in the Houston area after arriving as an undocumented migrant. His family said he had no criminal record and was awaiting a work permit. He was driving himself and three co-workers to a job site when the incident occurred.
On Monday, DHS said agents had planned a “targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien” and that Salgado had “attempted to evade arrest” and “rammed an ICE vehicle.” The officer supposedly fired his weapon in self‑defence. Salgado was taken to hospital, where he later died of his injuries.
The incident prompted protests in Houston and four Democratic congressmen—Sylvia Garcia, Al Green, Lizzie Fletcher, and Christian Menefee—have demanded an independent investigation. In a letter to DHS, they cited past cases of ICE agents using deadly force, including U.S. citizens killed in Minneapolis, and urged accountability.
The Mexican government announced it would file criminal complaints over the deaths of more than a dozen Mexicans in U.S. custody. Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said 14 Mexicans died in ICE custody and three more during ICE arrest operations, and that efforts would treat these deaths as criminal matters.
