Family mourns Houston man shot by ICE, demands independent probe

Hundreds of mourners gathered in Houston’s East End on July 11 to honor Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and press for an independent investigation into the ICE shooting that killed him near Canal Street and North Wayside Drive. The vigil came after another large candlelight gathering on July 8, where a heavy police presence surrounded the residential block and neighbors filled much of the street near a newly made memorial and mural.

Ronaldo Salgado, Araujo’s oldest son, told mourners that his father worked from sunrise to sunset for 35 years to send all three of his American-born sons to college. Ronaldo Salgado said Araujo, 52, had lived in Houston for 35 years, had no criminal convictions and was driving a crew to a homebuilding site when an ICE officer shot him during a “targeted enforcement operation.” Ronaldo Salgado and his brother Lorenzo Salgado Jr. recalled their father’s love of soccer and said they would “continue to keep fighting for him.”

The Department of Homeland Security and ICE say Araujo ignored commands and tried to ram an ICE vehicle and run over an officer, and say the shooting was self-defense. Family members and witnesses have disputed that account, and federal officials had not publicly released body-camera footage or other images from the confrontation. The agents involved did not have body cameras.

Local elected officials and civil rights groups are demanding transparency. In Houston’s predominantly Latino East End and Magnolia Park neighborhoods, residents say the visible ICE presence in recent weeks has deepened fear. U.S. Rep. Al Green said at the July 8 vigil that he would seek articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump over the administration’s handling of ICE. Houston Mayor John Whitmire directed the Houston Police Department to offer resources to federal authorities as the shooting is investigated.

At the vigil, Ronaldo Salgado stood before supporters and described his father as a quiet family man, pushing back against the federal portrayal of the 52-year-old immigrant whose life in Houston stretched from construction jobs to raising three sons.