HOUSTON – There were growing calls on July 8 for an independent investigation into the fatal shooting of a man in Houston by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, the latest in a string of deadly encounters involving American immigration officers.
In a statement after the shooting on the morning of July 7, ICE said the dead man, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, rammed his car into an ICE vehicle and attempted to run over an officer, who then fired on him in “self-defence”.
Salgado was a Mexican national living illegally in the United States and was caught up in a “targeted enforcement operation”, the agency said.
Reuters could not verify the man’s immigration status or the circumstances of the shooting.
At a July 7 press conference, Salgado’s son, Ronaldo, described his father as a peaceful man who had spent the past 35 years in the country as a construction worker.
“He dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream,” Ronaldo said, adding that he had been working to get his legal immigration status and was close to securing it.
Flanked by several members of Congress, leaders of Latino advocacy groups and Houston officials, Ronaldo called for “a full investigation” into his father’s killing.
He only learnt about what had happened after seeing a video posted on social media, Ronaldo said, showing his father on the ground next to his white van.
“I recognised him immediately, not from his appearance, but from his voice, crying for help as he lay on the street, bleeding out,” he said, choking back tears.
“It is un-American to use a fatal force against a human being, then lock away the evidence,” Roman Polares, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, told the press conference.
“For too long, we have watched an open season declared on Latinos, and communities of colour, under the guise of public safety.”
Dispute over investigation
ICE said on July 7 that its parent agency, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), would lead an investigation into the shooting, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation would spearhead an inquiry into the “potential assault on a law enforcement officer”.
But many in this city were unwilling to wait for a federal probe.
“I am calling for an immediate and impartial investigation, with all available video and findings released as soon as possible,” Alejandra Salinas, a Houston City Council member, wrote in an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle on July 8.
US Representative Sylvia Garcia, a Texas Democrat who represents the neighbourhood where the shooting took place, made a similar appeal for an independent investigation, saying the shooting was just the latest example of why Democrats in Congress were demanding that ICE be reformed.
“We need independent investigations, we need body cameras, clear identification, no masks and an end to paramilitary-style immigration enforcement in our streets,” Garcia said at the press conference.
ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire, speaking at a City Council meeting on July 8, said he was in “constant touch” with federal officials. He called for a “transparent, independent” investigation, but not a city-led inquiry, saying there “could not be two ongoing investigations”.
The fatal shooting comes months after Whitmire faced off with Texas Governor Greg Abbott over whether the city’s police officers could cooperate with ICE. Since then, analysts said, he has tried to avoid confrontation over immigration enforcement.
“If the mayor can ignore this, then he’ll try to, with the effort to try to focus on things that he can more directly control,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston.
But that may prove untenable, as he comes under pressure from his left flank and calls for protests intensify.
Hundreds are expected at a vigil at the scene of the shooting on the evening of July 8, organisers said, and the case has already made waves across the border in Mexico.
In a press briefing on July 8, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government was preparing legal measures after “another unfortunate death” of a Mexican national whose “only fault was not having legal papers yet”.
Latest in series of ICE shootings
According to the ICE account of the incident, Salgado “rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponised his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer”.
The confrontation resulted in “our officer firing his weapon in self-defence”, striking the driver, who was transported to a hospital where he died of his injuries, ICE said.
At least six people have been shot and killed by federal immigration officers since January 2025, when President Donald Trump began his second term and ordered large-scale deportation sweeps.
As at the afternoon of July 8, no video had emerged of the shooting itself, and it was unclear if the agents involved were wearing body cameras.
Trump’s administration has slow-walked efforts to expand the use of body cameras by immigration officers and sharply cut oversight staffing in 2025 as it surged officers into cities across the nation, undermining the ability of ICE and DHS to investigate abuses.
Initial statements from federal agencies about their use of force have often been challenged by video footage or other evidence.
Marimar Martinez, a Chicago-area woman, was accused in October of ramming law enforcement officers with her car. She was shot five times but survived. Charges against her were ultimately dropped, and video evidence suggested that the agents might have caused the collision.
Trump administration officials also said that two US citizens shot dead by federal agents on the streets of Minneapolis in January, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, had threatened bodily harm to the agents before they were killed – despite apparently contradictory video evidence. REUTERS
