Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, was driving to work as a construction worker in Houston’s East End on Tuesday morning when he was fatally shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a traffic stop.
At a Wednesday press conference hosted by the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice, congressional delegates, civil rights leaders and Salgado’s family members—which includes a wife and three children—urged ICE and the FBI to release information and allow independent oversight into the shooting.
ICE said agents attempted a “targeted operation” when Lorenzo Salgado Araujo allegedly tried to evade arrest. The account was shared by a United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) representative, and federal officials have not released additional details or confirmed whether video footage exists.
Salgado’s son, Ronaldo, said he recognized his father’s voice in a video posted online showing him wounded on the street. He said he spent hours seeking information from officers and later rushed to Ben Taub Hospital, where staff could not confirm his father’s condition. He said he learned of his father’s death from social media.
“My father was a simple man, a family man,” he said. “He dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream.”
LULAC leaders criticized ICE’s initial account, saying it mirrors other fatal encounters involving the agency. CEO Juan Proaño called for the release of all evidence including body camera footage, dash cam video, and dispatch records to an independent investigator.
“A man’s life is not a footnote in paperwork,” Proaño said. “He had a name. He has a family. And they deserve answers.”
Former LULAC president Domingo Garcia urged Harris County officials to open a local investigation and empanel a special grand jury.
“We have an out‑of‑control ICE agency,” Garcia said. “The only way we hold them accountable is if the citizens and residents of Houston hold them accountable.”
US Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX-18) said the shooting reflects a broader pattern of federal overreach and mistreatment of immigrant communities.
“We are a city of undocumented immigrants,” Menefee said. “They are our neighbors, our family, and our business owners, and they deserve to be treated with humanity and dignity. We’ve seen what happened to Alex Prady and to Renee Good. We’ve seen the habits of ICE, an agency that has lost the trust of the American people.”
Menefee, who serves on the House Oversight Committee, said federal accountability is overdue.
“When Democrats take the House back, ICE better buckle up, because we will be investigating you day after day until this lawlessness and militarism stops,” he said. “We’ve seen this across the country, and now we’re seeing it in Houston.”
During a Tuesday morning city council meeting, Mayor John Whitmire called the shooting “a very tragic, complex issue” and urged continued communication with federal lawmakers, which he said would take the lead on investigations
“Our prayers go out to the family and the community that feels the pain and anxiety,” he said. “As I’ve said two years ago. I wish it were something that we just didn’t have to deal with.”
