Statement on the Killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s birthday celebration in March.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo spent 35 years in the United States, working to give his three sons the chance to go to college. On July 7, 2026, he was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Houston. [1, 2] Stockton Democrats Together (SDT) extends our deepest condolences to his family, and we stand with them in their grief and in their call for the truth about how he died.

Grief alone is not enough. SDT calls for a fully independent investigation conducted outside ICE’s own chain of command into Salgado Araujo’s death, the immediate release of all video and forensic evidence, and congressional oversight hearings into ICE and Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) escalating pattern of lethal force against civilians, including U.S. citizens.

According to ICE, agents shot Salgado Araujo, 52, after he rammed an agency vehicle and attempted to run over an officer during a targeted enforcement stop. [1, 2] His family and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) dispute that account, saying witness video shows little to no damage to his vehicle, [3] and have called for an independent investigation; federal authorities have not released video of the shooting. [2] The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the FBI are each investigating separate aspects of the incident, [4] and Mexico’s president has said her government will pursue legal action over the killing. [5]

SDT is asking that ICE’s account be tested because Houston would not be the first time it has not held up. In Minneapolis, federal agents initially said Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs nurse, approached them with a handgun; independently verified bystander video instead showed him face-down on the ground and restrained by six agents when he was shot. [6] Officials said a second man, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, attacked an agent with a shovel; video showed no such attack, and the agent who shot him is now facing criminal charges for lying about it. [7] A third U.S. citizen, Renée Good, was also fatally shot during that same operation, and Minnesota has sued the federal government for withholding evidence in all three cases. [8] This is the same “weaponized vehicle” narrative now surfacing in Houston.

The Houston shooting also comes six days after an ICE officer fired on a fleeing vehicle in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, [9] and amid a broader surge in the use of lethal force: at least 38 shootings by ICE and CBP agents since January 2025, resulting in at least 9 deaths, [10] and a record 33 deaths in ICE custody in 2025 alone, with at least 21 more reported so far in 2026. [11]

SDT takes no position on Mr. Salgado Araujo’s immigration status, which has no bearing on whether the government’s use of lethal force against him was justified. We call on DHS’s Office of Inspector General and the FBI to investigate independently of ICE’s chain of command and release all evidence without delay; on members of California’s congressional delegation to press for hearings on ICE and CBP’s pattern of use-of-force incidents; on ICE and DHS leadership to adopt clear, public use-of-force protocols for enforcement stops; and on local and state officials in San Joaquin County to ensure that local cooperation with ICE never extends to shielding federal conduct from independent review.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo deserved to come home. His family deserves the truth.

Sources

[1] ABC News, “‘He Did Not Deserve to Die,’ Son of Man Fatally Shot by ICE Officer in Houston Says, July 7, 2026. https://abcnews.com/US/man-fatally-shot-ice-officer-houston/story?id=134563739

[2] PBS News, “A Mexican Father Was Shot and Killed by an ICE Officer. His Son Is Demanding an Independent Probe,” July 8, 2026. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/a-mexican-father-was-shot-and-killed-by-an-ice-officer-his-son-is-demanding-an-independent-probe

[3] Click2Houston (KPRC), “‘We Need the Facts’: Houston Leaders, LULAC Call for Independent Investigation into Deadly ICE Shooting,” July 7, 2026. https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2026/07/07/houston-city-council-member-calls-for-investigation-into-fatal-ice-shooting-of-undocumented-immigrant/

[4] Click2Houston (KPRC), “ICE Agent Shoots, Kills Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during Attempted Arrest in East Houston,” July 7–8, 2026. https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2026/07/07/heavy-law-enforcement-presence-reported-in-east-houston-neighborhood/

[5] ABC7 Chicago, “Lorenzo Salgado Araujo Killed: Mexico Says It Will Pursue Legal Action against US after Deadly ICE Shooting in Houston,” July 8, 2026. https://abc7chicago.com/post/mexico-says-will-pursue-legal-action-us-deadly-ice-shooting-houston/19470599/

[6] Wikipedia, “Killing of Alex Pretti,” accessed July 8, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Alex_Pretti

[7] PBS News, “Minnesota County Charges ICE Officer in Shooting during Immigration Crackdown,” May 18, 2026. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/minnesota-county-charges-ice-officer-in-shooting-during-immigration-crackdown

[8] NPR, “Months after the ICE Shootings in Minnesota, a Federal Probe Remains Elusive,” April 10, 2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/04/10/nx-s1-5775847/alex-pretti-renee-good-ice-shootings-federal-investigations

[9] WHP/CBS21 (fox56.com), “WATCH | Video Shows ICE Officer Break Window, Shoot at SUV in Harrisburg Arrest Attempt,” July 2, 2026. https://fox56.com/news/local/watch-video-shows-ice-officer-break-window-shoot-at-suv-in-harrisburg-arrest-attempt

[10] Wikipedia, “List of Shootings by U.S. Immigration Agents in the Second Trump Administration,” accessed July 8, 2026 (citing The Wall Street Journal). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shootings_by_U.S._immigration_agents_in_the_second_Trump_administration

[11] National Immigration Project (NIPNLG), “Mourning Those Who Have Died in ICE Custody,” updated July 6, 2026. https://nipnlg.org/news/mourning-those-who-have-died-ice-custody