Houston ICE shooting: Mexican president speaks out on Araujo’s death

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI are investigating after a Mexican citizen was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston’s Magnolia Park on Tuesday.

The son of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the man who died, said in a statement that “my father did not deserve this,” although ICE stated its officer killed Araujo in self-defense after he ignored commands and tried to run over the officer. The stepdaughter of another man arrested by ICE during the encounter has accused the officers of racial profiling. 

A protest was held near the scene of the shooting Tuesday night, and news conferences and vigils are slated Wednesday. 

Follow along for the latest on the response to the shooting from Houston Chronicle reporters and photographers. 

TIMELINE: Fatal ICE shootings since the start of Donald Trump’s second term

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said she is looking to “go beyond diplomatic notes and the measures we have already raised before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights” while speaking with reporters during a Wednesday news conference about the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.

“We cannot allow the mistreatment of our fellow Mexicans in the United States,” Sheinbaum told reporters Wednesday. “Unfortunately, there has been another death of a Mexican national in the United States for being detained, when that person’s only offense was lacking immigration documents, even though they had been hired by an American company.”

The Texas Rangers are not investigating the deadly ICE shooting in Houston, the Department of Public Safety said Wednesday.

The state agency did not respond to questions about why it is not probing this week’s shooting, given Texas Rangers have investigated multiple recent shootings involving federal immigration officials. DPS directed questions to the FBI, which is investigating.

Last year, Texas Rangers investigated the deadly shooting of 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez by a Homeland Security Investigations agent in South Padre. A grand jury in February declined to indict the ICE agent.

Rangers also investigated a shooting in Starr County involving the Border Patrol in December.

-Ben Wermund

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo joined a growing chorus of calls from elected officials for an independent investigation into the killing.

While other elected officials were cautious in their calls for accountability, Hidalgo said recent killings by federal immigration officers and attempted cover-ups made it impossible for her to trust the government’s account of the incident.

“This is an agency with a recent history of inexplicable arrests, extrajudicial violence and blatant attempts at cover ups,” Hidalgo said.  “ICE has long since lost public trust.”

The Texas Democratic Party joined the plea of other legislators and leaders Wednesday asking federal authorities to release all available evidence as quickly as possible in the fatal shooting. 

“Nobody is defending violent criminals or suggesting that law enforcement should not protect themselves when they face a genuine threat,” said Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder. “But we’ve already seen this movie in Minneapolis so we know the public cannot simply be asked to accept an official version of events without transparency.”

Federal officials have said that the ICE agent acted in self-defense as Araujo allegedly attempted to strike officers with his vehicle.

A statement from the Texas Democratic Party said the public deserves a complete accounting of the facts supported by all available evidence, including body camera footage, surveillance video and witness testimony.

“Texas families deserve safe communities and a fair immigration system,” Scudder added. “We can enforce our laws while still respecting constitutional rights, due process, and basic human dignity. Those values are not mutually exclusive.”

Commissioner Adrian Garcia joined other officials in calling for an independent investigation into the shooting led by local authorities.

“Our local authorities are grounded in this community and have the trust needed to ensure full accountability,” Garcia said. “Our neighborhoods should not live in fear. As the facts of this case come to light, this family deserves answers and accountability. Justice must be served for Mr. Araujo.”

Garcia’s statement came after other court members made similar appeals in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s shooting. 

A spokesperson for Judge Lina Hidalgo’s staff said her office was still reviewing the facts of the incident and would likely issue a statement Wednesday afternoon.

State representative and the Democratic nominee for Texas governor Gina Hinojosa is alarmed after Tuesday’s shooting. 

“Let me be clear: the targeting of our communities is making us less safe, not more safe,” she said. “Texans, and all Americans, deserve full transparency about this shooting, including the release of body camera and dashcam footage, and I join the calls for a transparent investigation that includes state Rangers to begin as quickly as possible.”

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare issued a statement saying the procedure in officer-involved shootings is that the DA’s office conduct a parallel investigation, but that federal authorities are handling the case. 

“When anyone in Harris County loses their life during an interaction with law enforcement, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office conducts an investigation parallel to the agency leading the investigation,” he said in an X post. “Unfortunately at this time, federal authorities continue exclusively handling all aspects in this case.”

He said Salgado Araujo’s family and the community deserve the truth. 

Teare urged anyone with video, photos or eyewitness accounts to come to his office.

In the wake of the fatal shooting, at least one former chief of a major American city says it is important that local police conduct their own investigation.

“I would investigate or at least embed an investigator,” said Jorge Colina, a retired Miami police chief who now consults for law enforcement agencies nationwide. Even if federal authorities are reluctant to cooperate in an investigation, like they were in Minnesota, it’s important that local leaders keep trying, Colina said.

Colina’s attitude stands in stark contrast to Houston Mayor John Whitmire and officials with the Houston Police Department, who say they’ve had no involvement since ICE agents fatally shot a man in the Magnolia Park neighborhood.

On Wednesday morning, Whitmire declined to seek a city-led investigation, citing an FBI probe was already taking place. 

During a Wednesday press conference, Araujo’s son, Ronaldo Salgado, said his father would have stopped if the cars had any emblems indicating they belonged to a law-enforcement agency. Because he was getting a work permit, he was familiar with the process.

“He knew what to do in case he was stopped by ICE. He knew not to sign anything,” Salgado said. “What happened, though, was my father was followed by two unmarked cars.”

The family said in the press conference that no law enforcement agency has reached out to Arajujo’s family besides communication with the FBI that occurred on site.

At the Wednesday press conference, Rep. Gene Wu encouraged residents not to turn over evidence to ICE.

“We’ve already heard stories that ICE is coming to people’s homes and taking their videos and deleting them,” he said. “Do not let this happen. Do not let police officers, especially ICE, come into your home and take your things without a warrant.”

Houston elected officials who spoke at the Wednesday press conference included City Council member Alejandra Salinas, a representative for Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis and U.S. Rep. Al Green. 

They called for an independent investigation into the shooting. 

Garcia said no family should have to lose a loved one in this way. 

“This is about a Houston family led by a man who has lived here for 35 years with absolutely no criminal history,” she said.

Garcia said ICE’s allegations against Arajujo are only allegations.

“We need to know why Lorenzo was targeted,” she said. “We need to know who authorized the operation. We need to know whether de escalation was attempted, and we need to know when this family will get answers, when this community will get answers.”

Green said ICE should leave this area until the community gets information. 

“We cannot allow a cover up to take place … We know what happened to Ms. Good,” Green said. “We don’t know what happened, but we do know that we cannot depend on ICE to give us credible information.”

Given the news that Whitmire declined a Houston Police Department investigation, Green repeated a call to action.

“This is the time when we need all hands on deck,” Green said. “The mayor ought to reconsider what he said. I believe the Houston Police Department can investigate this.”

Juana Degollado, a 27-year-old Houstonian, said she sprung out of bed when her stepfather called home from an ICE detention facility in Conroe Wednesday morning.

It was about 6:30 a.m., and Daniel Tirado Pantoja had dialed from the Montgomery Processing Center one day after an ICE agent shot and killed his boss Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Magnolia Park.

Degollado could hear the heartbreak in his voice as he and his wife spoke through tears over the phone line.

“He just sounds really sad,” Degollado said. “He spoke to my mom. They were both crying, and my mom was telling him it’s going to be OK, that we’re going to do whatever we can to help him out.”

Tirado Pantoja has lived in Texas for over 30 years, had a clean record and was in the process of getting his Green Card, Degollado said. He’s been married to her mother for 12 years and has a teenage son who is a U.S. citizen.

Degollado said her stepfather is a great person with a “big heart for everyone.” His birthday is this month, and he will likely spend it in federal custody, she said.

“They were just men going to work to provide for their families,” she said. “That’s all they were doing. They were not committing any crimes.”

A handful of armed ICE agents were outside a house in Spring on Wednesday morning.

They were outside a home at Saint Winfred Drive in the Chancel subdivision.

Officials at the scene said a man had barricaded himself in the house after a chase, but declined to give any more information.

Neighbors said the agents had been outside the house since around 7 a.m. A truck that was parked in the driveway had apparently hit the house as it was pulling in and the driver left.

Neighbors said they didn’t know the residents of the house.

No other police agencies were at the scene. The agents asked a reporter to stay “out of the line of fire.” But otherwise the street was open.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire declined to seek a city-led investigation into the fatal shooting of Salgado Araujo by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, saying there cannot be a city investigation while a federal investigation is occurring.

“We’re monitoring it very carefully,” Whitmire said. “It’s truly a tragedy … But there’s no involvement with HPD.”

Whitmire said it was a tragic, complex issue and his prayers go out to the family and the community that, “feels the pain.”

During the press conference, Ronaldo Salgado, Arajujo’s son, recalled Arajujo’s life and his last day alive.

“For the majority of the last 35 years, his life in the United States, he began the day the same way, and it always ended by coming home, sitting on the porch, eating a hearty meal made by my mother, going to sleep and then doing it all again,” he said.

Salgado said he discovered his dad had been shot and killed through a Facebook video, where he recognized his dad’s voice.

“I didn’t think it was him, but I had to make sure,” he said.

When he discovered his dad had died, he immediately called his mother, he said.

Salgado said Arajujo’s three sons were his pride and joy. Arajujo applied for a work permit and was on his way to obtaining legal status, he said.

“I am deeply heartbroken to see that the man who taught me the value of hard work, family values and education will no longer spend time on that porch,” Salgado said.

Salgado said he hopes that the three men who were with his father — including his uncle — can provide their own statements.

The family of Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed by an ICE officer on Tuesday, and League of United Latin American Citizens officers called for an independent investigation at a press conference Wednesday morning.

“It is unacceptable, it is un-American, to use lethal force against a human being, then lock away the evidence,” said Roman Palomares, LULAC’s national president.

LULAC is the largest and oldest Hispanic organization in the United States and was founded in Texas in 1921. Palomares said LULAC is demanding the truth and a full local investigation.

“Say his name because ICE does not want you to say that name,” Palomares said.

Palomares said the family was not informed when Ajauro was shot and taken to the hospital while going to work.

CEO Juan Proaño said officials’ statement on Ajauro’s death is reminiscent that of Renee Good, who was killed in Minneapolis in January.

“We will have the truth about Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and we will not stop until we do,” he said.

Domingo Garcia, former LULAC president and Texas legislator, called for witnesses to come forward to “hold (ICE) accountable.”

“We don’t expect the truth from the Department of Justice or the FBI. We expect a whitewash,” he said.

Daniel Tirado Pantoja, the worker who was detained at the shooting scene on Tuesday where Araujo was shot, is in custody at ICE’s Montgomery County Processing Center in Conroe, his attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra said. Balderas-Ibarra said he hopes to visit Pantoja on Wednesday and believes his arrest constituted racial profiling.

Balderas-Ibarra, who specializes in immigration cases, could not immediately share details about Pantoja’s status but said he’s working to get him released.

“If you’re brown, you look like you might be undocumented, that’s sufficient probable cause to stop them,” Ibarra said as he criticized ICE’s arrest.

On Wednesday, community members reported seeing more ICE agents blocks from where the shooting occurred.

Sisters Patricia and Katherine Cruz said they spotted two unmarked cars and a patrol vehicle in a restaurant parking lot while driving near Harrisburg Boulevard and 75th Street, though it was unclear which agency the vehicles were with.

There has been an increase in ICE presence in the neighborhood, Cruz said, noting she was stopped by agents a couple of weeks before the shooting.

“It’s concerning,” she said, noting incidents of ICE agent shooting in other cities. “Innocent people are losing their lives.”

The Houston Chronicle reached out to ICE Wednesday morning to ask if they are operating in the neighborhood.

As of Wednesday morning, officials have not named the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who shot Araujo. ICE’s account is that the officer fired in self-defense after Araujo allegedly refused commands and tried to run over an officer or rammed an ICE vehicle.

Araujo was shot in the abdomen and declared dead after being taken to a hospital.

There have been no reports of injuries to any ICE personnel.

ICE hasn’t released any video of the encounter. Security camera and social media videos obtained by various media outlets don’t show the full extent of the interaction between the agents and Araujo.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General is leading the investigation into the shooting, DHS said on Tuesday.

On Wednesday morning, the Houston Police Department said it was not involved, though the League of United Latin American Citizens and others have demanded local authorities conduct an independent investigation.

Canal Street looked much like it does every day, according to Jorge Gonzalez, who lives on the street — a few scattered people standing in line for breakfast at the Chevron gas station, some people up early and standing outside waiting for work.

Just 24 hours after an ICE agent fatally shot Salgado Araujo, most businesses on Canal Street hadn’t yet opened for the day.

A manager at La Michoacana Meat Market, who didn’t share her name, said ICE agents in unmarked cars had become a regular staple in that area.

Gonzalez agreed, saying they showed up at the nearby gas stations and the meat market, looking for day laborers and people setting out to work for the day.

“And why?” he said. “Those are the ones doing the work, they’re hard working people.”

Gonzalez pointed to the road, currently under repair and divided between its original red brick and a new smoky black asphalt, and said the people ICE agents are going after are the same doing that work.

“People are scared,” said Juan Gonzalez, who lives in the neighborhood behind Canal Street, adding he thinks most people wouldn’t want to discuss the fatal shooting.

Juan Gonzalez has lived in the same house for 55 years and hadn’t had problems until recently.

He said people now have to carry paperwork, even if they’re citizens, because ICE agents patrol the neighborhood and regularly stop people just because they’re Hispanic.

Jorge Gonzalez said he didn’t see or hear the shooting, but that ICE agents looked in his yard, he’s not sure for what.

He said he asked them what had happened and what they were doing, but they told him it was an active investigation and they couldn’t share anything with him.

ICE agents were the only people on scene initially, but HPD officers eventually showed up on scene as well, he said. ICE officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about what they’re doing in the neighborhood as of Wednesday morning.

A day after his father died, Ronaldo Salgado took to Facebook Wednesday morning to share more about his experience.

“Woke up this morning and it is now finally hitting me that my father is gone. It’s been 24 hours since I’ve been told that my dad is in trouble and needed to find him,” Salgado said on his Facebook page. 

He said he spent most of Tuesday at the crime scene waiting to hear news about his father. 

“Today is the first day without him for all of us, and it is heartbreaking to know that my mom did not make lunch for my dad before going to work — the first time in their 30-plus-year marriage,” Salgado said. “This is my father — a simple man, a family man. Not someone crying for help on the floor as he bled. He just wanted to go to work and come back to us.”

Salgado will speak at a press conference at 10 a.m. at the Greater Coalition for Justice.

LULAC Institute has started a GoFundMe page to support Salgado Araujo’s wife and family. The goal is $25,000. The group also listed his age as 52. 

“He was a husband, a father of three sons, a small-business owner and the heart of his family,” according to the GoFundMe. “This fund exists to carry his family through the impossible days ahead, and to let them grieve without the added weight of how they will get by.”

The page said he owned his own construction business. 

“He was known for his work ethic, his fairness and his willingness to help anyone who needed it,” according to the page. “When people describe him, the first words are always the same, hardworking, dependable, kind.”

Funds collected will go to funeral and burial costs, legal expenses, everyday living costs and his wife’s needs as her husband was the sole provider. 

The shooting death is drawing the attention of many area officials and leaders seeking transparency on what led to the deadly confrontation.

Local leaders like Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin, Rochelle Garza, President of the Texas Civil Rights Project and Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia have issued statements.

See the Houston Chronicle’s story to see what they are saying. 

The Houston group Alianza Latina Internacional hosts a vigil for Salgado Araujo at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. It will take place at Wayside Drive and Macario Garcia Drive at the corner.

The group posted the vigil information on its Facebook page around midnight. 

“They took the life of a warrior who was only going to work,” according to a flyer on the group’s page. “A father, a son, a brother, a friend who deserved to come home. We do not seek revenge. We demand justice.” 

Ronaldo Salgado posted a statement on his Facebook page Tuesday saying that his father “Was a hardworking Mexican man. My father has been in this country for nearly 35 years, working in construction to provide for myself, my two brothers and my mother.”

Salgado Araujo was on his way to pick up workers for the day when the shooting happened, Salgado said. His father was in the process of gaining legal citizenship. 

Salgado will speak in a press conference with support from the League of United Latin American Citizens at 10 a.m. today at the Greater Coalition for Justice at 150 West Parker Road in Houston on the fifth floor. 

Protesters took to the streets Tuesday night in Houston’s Magnolia Park neighborhood following Salgado Araujo’s death earlier in the day. 

A group of about two dozen protesters gathered at the site of Araujo’s killing Tuesday night as storm clouds rumbled in the distance. 

“Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here!” they chanted, as storm clouds rumbled in the distance. Passing cars on Canal Street honked in support.

The protest was organized by several community groups, including Contra Gentrificación, which called Araujo’s death the result of “Trump’s regime at the hands of his ICE goons.”

“This is very, very close to home, so I am here in support of these people because it’s not just,” said protester Adriana Tellez, who lives in the area where Araujo was shot. 

The League of United Latin American Citizens on Tuesday demanded that the Houston Police Department lead an investigation into the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, saying it would be a “dereliction of duty” if the department declines to get involved.

The Latino civil rights organization and the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice planned a news conference for Wednesday morning to call for a transparent and independent investigation into the shooting.

— Sam González Kelly