The family of a Mexican national fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Houston on Tuesday is demanding an independent investigation, as civil rights organizations challenge the federal account of the shooting and hundreds of residents march through the neighborhood where he was killed.

Who Was Lorenzo Salgado Araujo

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo had lived in the United States for decades without a criminal conviction, working as a homebuilder and supporting three American-born sons through college. According to his family, he had recently begun the formal process of obtaining legal immigration status, completing biometric scans and fingerprinting and carefully studying what to do if stopped by ICE.

He was driving a crew of workers to a job site in Houston’s Magnolia Park neighborhood when he was shot. He died at a hospital from an abdominal gunshot wound.

“He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of Mexican man shot and killed by ICE. He deserved to live a quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a husband, a father and a job creator for dozens of men who also wanted the American dream,” his son Ronaldo Salgado said at a news conference Wednesday, wiping away tears.

Federal Account and Family’s Competing Version

The Department of Homeland Security said ICE officers were stopping Salgado Araujo because he was in the country without legal authorization. Federal officials said he ignored commands and attempted to ram an officer with his van, and that the officer fired in self-defense. The van struck an ICE vehicle, DHS added.

Ronaldo Salgado offered a different interpretation. His father, he said, may have been afraid the people approaching in unmarked vehicles were attempting to steal the tools he had used for 35 years to build homes. “Had my father seen an emblem of ICE or an emblem that says anything about a law enforcement agency, my father would have complied,” his son said.

Daniel Tirado, another man in the van, called his wife before the incident to say they were being followed. His stepdaughter Juana Degollado told the Associated Press that what Tirado remembers is that “an ICE agent shot Lorenzo and the van door was closed.” Tirado was not able to contact his family until Wednesday morning, and the call lasted only five minutes.

Federal officials have not released video, images of the shooting, or images of the vehicles involved. Civil rights groups and Democratic officials have demanded full transparency, noting that in several previous shootings involving federal immigration officers, initial agency descriptions were later contradicted by video evidence.

Calls for Independent Investigation

Ronaldo Salgado and multiple civil rights organizations called Wednesday for an independent probe, arguing that ICE cannot be trusted to investigate its own officers. The League of United Latin American Citizens offered a $5,000 reward for witness footage and urged anyone with video not to turn it over to ICE. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said the family and community deserve the truth, but noted that federal authorities are exclusively handling the investigation.

ICE and DHS representatives did not respond to repeated requests for additional comment Wednesday.

Community Protests, Mexico Responds

The shooting took place in Magnolia Park, a neighborhood that has served as a hub for Houston’s Mexican American community for more than a century. On Wednesday night, hundreds of residents marched through the streets chanting “ICE out of Houston!” and holding signs bearing Salgado Araujo’s image. A memorial ceremony was held near the site of the shooting, with the crowd chanting, “You’re not alone!”

Democratic Representative Sylvia Garcia, who confirmed Salgado Araujo had no criminal convictions, joined other lawmakers in sending a letter to DHS demanding answers.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday her government is “preparing legal measures” in response to the killing. “We cannot allow the mistreatment of our brothers and sisters in the United States,” she said. Sheinbaum had previously raised concerns about the deaths of Mexican nationals in US immigration detention to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and signaled she was considering a UN appeal.

Eighth Death in Federal Immigration Operations

The ICE shooting Houston Lorenzo Salgado case is at least the eighth death resulting from an encounter with federal immigration officers since the start of the Trump administration’s crackdown. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who took over the department in March, has sought to distance it from controversies that marked his predecessor Kristi Noem’s tenure.

Author: Staff Writer | Edited for WTFwire.com | SOURCE: AP News