On Tuesday morning, 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo left his Houston home, kissed his wife goodbye, and drove off in his white van to pick up three co-workers for a construction job. He never arrived. During what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called a 'targeted enforcement operation,' Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers shot and killed Salgado, arresting the other three men.
10th Fatal Shooting Under Trump's Second Term
Salgado's death is the 10th fatal shooting by federal immigration officials nationwide since President Donald Trump began his second term, according to a Guardian review of public reports. The shootings have been carried out by both ICE officers and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents. Not all occurred during immigration enforcement: in one case, CBP agents shot a man who fired on a border patrol station in Texas; in another, an off-duty ICE officer killed a man in California.
Family Demands Independent Investigation
Details of Salgado's shooting remain unclear. DHS alleges that Salgado 'weaponized' his vehicle when officers tried to stop and arrest the four men. Salgado's family, public officials, and civil rights groups have called for an independent investigation, questioning the reliability of DHS claims. 'He did not deserve to die,' said Ronaldo Salgado, the victim's son, at a press conference on Wednesday.
Jesse Franzblau, associate director of policy at the National Immigrant Justice Center, stated: 'The deaths of people in immigration prisons has reached new terrifying levels – 21 people have died in ICE detention this year alone, and now we are learning of yet another shooting death by an immigration agent on the streets of another US neighborhood. Congress has given ICE and CBP billions of dollars, $70 billion alone in a bill passed just last month, with no accountability for the violence they have brought to our communities.'
Pattern of Vehicle-Related Shootings
In at least four of the immigration-related shooting deaths, including Salgado's, victims were driving vehicles when shot. Law enforcement officials are trained to move out of a car's path rather than shooting at a moving vehicle. From July 2025 to January 2026, the Wall Street Journal identified over a dozen incidents of federal immigration officials firing at people in vehicles.
Similar to Salgado's case, DHS claimed that Renee Good 'weaponized' her vehicle against ICE officials in a January shooting in Minnesota. That claim was later disputed by released footage contradicting the administration's statements. Good and Alex Pretti, both US citizens, were killed by federal immigration enforcement officials, sparking mass protests.
Previous Incidents Raise Concerns
In March 2025, an ICE agent shot and killed 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez, a US citizen, during a traffic incident. ICE's involvement was revealed nearly a year later, leading congressional Democrats to demand an independent investigation. Officials claimed Martinez had 'intentionally' run over a federal agent, but video released later painted a more complicated picture. Congressional representatives Robert Garcia and Greg Casar stated: 'DHS's repeated lies and omissions about the shooting of Mr Martinez reflect a troubling pattern in which official statements about the use of lethal force are later challenged by video footage, witness testimony, or subsequent investigations.'
Calls for Local and Federal Investigation
Steve Descano, Fairfax county commonwealth's attorney and co-founder of Fight Against Federal Overreach, said: 'Anytime someone is killed by a federal law enforcement agent, federal authorities should legitimately investigate to see if that killing is criminal. The Trump administration has made it clear that this is a duty they have no interest in fulfilling – and unfortunately their moral abdication means that state and local prosecutors must be the ones to pursue transparency and justice.'
Congressional representative Sylvia Garcia called for an independent investigation into Salgado's death. James Talarico, a Democratic Texas state representative running for US Senate, urged a 'full, independent investigation,' adding: 'Previous incidents have shown that this agency cannot be trusted to report all the facts.' On Wednesday, Houston's mayor, John Whitmire, said during a city council meeting that he insisted on a 'transparent, independent investigation' by federal authorities, noting that local officials lack jurisdiction over federal law enforcement matters.
Broader Context of Deaths in Immigration Custody
DHS has grappled with high-profile deaths in the past year. Last month, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights reported that 52 people died in ICE custody in the first 500 days of Trump's second term. The UN high commissioner for human rights has raised alarm about increasing deaths in US government immigration custody. Critics argue that the administration's aggressive 'mass deportation' campaign heightens the likelihood of violence and death.
A 2024 investigation by the Trace, Business Insider, and Type Investigations, based on previously undisclosed public records, found that between 2015 and 2021, 23 people were killed in shootings by ICE officers.
