ICE is threatening to deport witnesses to the recent shooting in Houston

Advocates want the Department of Homeland Security to release footage of the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the Mexican immigrant who was killed by ICE officers in Houston during a traffic stop earlier this week. But DHS says the agents who did the shooting weren’t wearing body cameras because of the long government shutdown that prevented ICE and Customs and Border Protection from receiving additional funding for 76 days — a suspension that was triggered by housing disputes. changes to DHS after the killing of two civilians earlier this year.

Two competing stories emerged without filming, which happened on Tuesday around 7AM when Salgado Araujo, who owned a construction business, went to the workplace with three of his employees. But like the murder of Renée Good and Alex Pretty show, DHS will prosecute the attackers — even if video evidence suggests otherwise.

But what good are videos or eyewitness accounts in a country where the government will refuse to answer, even when faced with evidence to the contrary? Even if a photo of Salgado Araujo’s shooting emerges, it won’t stop DHS from saying whatever it wants about the people it kills.

ICE spokesperson he said Salgado Araujo “armed his car in an attempt to confront an ICE officer” – similar to what DHS did after another shooting, another fatal. But three eyewitnesses, all in ICE custody, say Salgado Araujo did not do that. According to their stories, the lawyer Hugo Balderas-Ibarra shared with The Washington PostICE vehicles surrounded the work vehicle on both sides and shot into their vehicle. Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, he told The New Republic that DHS is forcing witnesses to turn themselves in.

In a words released after the shooting, DHS said agents stopped Salgado Araujo “as part of an enforcement operation.” But sources familiar with the situation told both The New York Times and CNN that Salgado Araujo was not a target. Police are looking for two Guatemalan men. During a search of a home linked to the Guatemalan man, officials saw two white vans, a DHS spokeswoman said Time. After that, he “saw a white car with a person who looked like the person he was looking for”—a car driven by Salgado Araujo.

ICE has said increased its presence in Houston in recent weeks as part of a larger crackdown, though less explosive than the DHS attack in Minnesota. DHS later changed course The grand return of Operation Metro Surgechoosing to be “arrested” for crimes. But easy pressure doesn’t mean little pressure. Earlier this month, ICE said it did they arrested 10,000 people in just five days.

A significant increase in these arrests can be helped by the number of species. Federal agencies are disproportionately targeting Latinos in New York City, according to hundreds of federal court cases. reviewed by The City Reporter. Although Latin Americans make up about 66 percent of the region’s undocumented population, more than 93 percent of the people DHS employed on city streets were Latinos. Many of these people followed a pattern similar to the one in which Salgado Araujo tried to be arrested in Houston. According to court documents, agents can catch a person who claims to be a target and lock him up even if he is not the person they want.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who took over the department after Kristi Noem was fired, says he wants to give a soft picture on immigration after being strongly criticized for his methods in Minnesota – especially before the middle age.

If DHS hoped that its more extreme approach would keep ICE out of the headlines, the shooting of Salgado Araujo has done the opposite. Hundreds of protesters gathered in Houston On Wednesday, march to the place where Salgado Araujo was killed. The Democrats are calling for an independent investigation about shooting. The DHS Office of the Inspector General has it is said to be opened his research. The FBI office in Houston is also investigating a series of assaults on police officers in the state – although eyewitnesses say no attack was committed.

Instead, the three witnesses said the ICE agents fired without provocation. “It is impossible for them to say that they have been crushed,” said Jose Trinidad Rojas, one of the men who traveled with Salgado Araujo, in a statement written to reporters. Send itbecause “there were no police in front or behind the car.

Hugo Balderas-Ibarra, the lawyer who shared the witness statements of Trinidad Rojas and other witnesses. Send itsaid all the survivors independently confirmed that government vehicles surrounded Salgado Araujo’s car from all sides and started shooting.

This is not the first time that immigration officials have justified shooting civilians by claiming self-defense. Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who shot Renée Good, he said he was afraid for his lifeand testified in court that he was once pulled over 100 yards by a driver who refused to stop. Charles Exum, the Border Patrol agent who shot and killed Marimar Martinez in Chicago in October 2025, said Martinez drove up in his state car. But the images from both the pictures show the opposite – and the authorities even shared videos of the unrelated incident in which a black SUV hit the agent’s car, claiming it was Martinez.

Given the lack of footage of the ICE shooting in Salgado Araujo, it is the statement of the agency against the three witnesses, which the government is trying to remove. Meanwhile, some Houstonians fear they may share what Salgado Araujo is going through. “If this is a permanent suspension,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) he said on Hello Houston after the shooting, “then everyone in Houston should be scared to drive on our roads.”

CNN reports that body cameras have been distributed to half of ICE offices across the country, and DHS says all offices will receive the cameras within the next 60 days. While video evidence of its agents’ actions may not compel DHS to incriminate itself, the footage may still circulate, allowing the public to learn the truth — even if the government tries to suppress eyewitnesses.