Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national and father of three, was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Houston on July 7. A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official has confirmed that Salgado Araujo was not the original intended target of the immigration operation that led to the encounter.
The incident occurred shortly before 7 a.m. as the victim was beginning his workday. According to the DHS, officers had been conducting surveillance on a target for weeks after receiving a credible tip from law enforcement partners. Agents reportedly observed two white vans at the target's address during their investigation. On the morning of the shooting, officers were en route to that address when they spotted a white van and initiated a stop, believing the individual inside resembled their target.
Officials previously stated that Salgado Araujo attempted to evade arrest and "weaponized" his vehicle in an attempt to run over an agent, who then fired in self-defense. However, this account has drawn sharp criticism from advocacy groups. Domingo Garcia, a former president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), stated, "We’ve heard this excuse one too many times." LULAC, which has been in contact with the family, noted that other workers were present in the van at the time of the shooting and were subsequently detained.
Salgado Araujo’s family has remembered him as a hardworking man who built homes in the Houston suburbs and was actively working toward obtaining legal status in the United States. His son, Ronaldo Salgado, expressed his grief and frustration on July 8, stating, "He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of Mexican man shot and killed by ICE." The family is now calling for a full investigation into the shooting.
The incident has also drawn international attention. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum indicated that her government is preparing legal measures, asserting that they cannot allow the mistreatment of their citizens in the United States. While officials have described Salgado Araujo as an unauthorized immigrant, they have not provided details regarding whether any identification measures were taken before the fatal stop.