ICE shooting in Houston sparks backlash over fatal force claim

An ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston’s East End while he was driving his construction crew to a job, and the Department of Homeland Security said the shooting remains under investigation by its Office of the Inspector General. DHS said the encounter was part of a targeted enforcement operation and Araujo tried to ram an ICE vehicle and run over an officer, who fired in self-defense.

Araujo was 52 and a Mexican immigrant. His family described him as a father, husband and business owner who had worked for decades to support his children, and one of his sons said he labored for 35 years to send all three of his American citizen sons to college. The family, along with civil-rights advocates, called for an independent investigation. Texas Democrats and LULAC also pressed for accountability and the release of body-worn camera footage.

Homeland Security said the officers involved had not been issued body-worn cameras. Rep. Sylvia Garcia later said ICE acting director David Venturella told her Araujo was not the intended target, and DHS said it had received a tip from an unspecified law enforcement agency.

In January 2026, shootings by federal immigration officers were climbing during Donald Trump’s mass-deportation campaign. Human Rights Watch said the Houston explanation echoed the account DHS used in the January 2026 killing of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. A leaked May 2025 ICE memo allowed forced home entry with administrative warrants in some cases, a policy civil-liberties groups said violated the Fourth Amendment.