Mexico seeks probe into ICE deaths after Houston shooting of father
Mexico said it will seek U.S. criminal probes into 17 migrant deaths as Houston officials examine why ICE killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a father of three who was not the target.
Houston officials are investigating why ICE shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father of three who was not supposed to be the target.
Mexico will pursue criminal investigations in the United States over the deaths of 17 Mexicans tied to immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term.
The Department of Homeland Security said Salgado Araujo “resembled the target” of the operation. ICE had conducted surveillance for weeks after receiving a credible tip and stopped his vehicle on July 7, 2026, in Houston’s East End after seeing a white van linked to the investigation. DHS also said the officers involved were not wearing body cameras.
Salgado Araujo’s family said he was a Mexican national who had lived in the United States for more than 30 years, was working toward legal immigration status, and had no criminal history. Relatives said he was driving a construction crew to a job when he was shot near Canal Street in the predominantly Latino neighborhood, where a memorial now marks the scene.
Acting ICE director David Venturella told a Houston congresswoman’s office that another passenger in the vehicle had the administrative warrant and was the intended target, not Salgado Araujo. Witnesses and family members dispute ICE’s account that he rammed officers, saying he became frightened when unmarked vehicles followed him. Newly obtained video showed an unmarked ICE vehicle and Salgado Araujo’s van just before the shooting.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the killing.
Mexico’s foreign ministry had already sent 11 diplomatic protest notes over the deaths and now plans to press complaints with U.S. prosecutors, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations human rights chief.
Roberto Velasco Álvarez, a senior Mexican foreign ministry official, said the government is seeking accountability for deaths linked to immigration enforcement, including 14 in ICE custody and three during ICE operations.
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