Immigration and Customs Enforcement is threatening to deport witnesses to the recent shooting in Houston

Lawyers are demanding that the Department of Homeland Security release body camera footage of the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant who was killed by ICE officers in Houston during a traffic stop earlier this week. But DHS claims the agents involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras because of a long government shutdown that prevented ICE from receiving additional federal funding for 76 days — a shutdown that was itself prompted by wrangling in Congress over DHS fixes After federal agents killed two civilians earlier this year.

Two competing accounts emerged in the absence of any footage of the shooting, which occurred Tuesday around 7 a.m., as Salgado Araujo, who owns a construction company, was driving to a work site with three of his employees. But like the murder of Renee Goode and… Alex Pretty As shown, DHS will readily accuse victims of attacking agents – even when video evidence shows otherwise.

But what use are video footage or eyewitness accounts in a world where the government denies accountability, even when faced with evidence that clearly contradicts its statements? Even if footage of Salgado Araujo’s shooting comes out, that won’t stop DHS from saying what it wants about the people it kills.

ICE spokesperson He said Salgado Araujo “used his vehicle as a weapon in an attempt to run over an ICE officer” — echoing claims by the Department of Homeland Security after other shootings, some fatal. But three eyewitnesses, all of whom are in ICE custody, confirm that Salgado Araujo did no such thing. According to their accounts, that is, the lawyer Hugo Balderas Ibarra Shared with The Washington PostICE vehicles surrounded the work truck from both sides and fired into their vehicle. Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, He told the New Republic The Department of Homeland Security is pressuring witnesses to self-deport.

In a statement The Department of Homeland Security, which was released after the shooting, said agents arrested Salgado Araujo “as part of a targeted enforcement operation.” But sources familiar with the situation told both New York Times and CNN That Salgado Araujo was not the target. Officers were reportedly searching for two Guatemalan men. While conducting surveillance on a property linked to the Guatemalan men, officials saw two white trucks, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said. times. Later, they “observed a white truck carrying a person who resembled the target” — the truck driven by Salgado Araujo.

Reportedly It has strengthened its presence in Houston in recent weeks as part of a broader enforcement campaign, albeit less pretentious than the Department of Homeland Security’s shock-and-awe raids in Minnesota. The Department of Homeland Security then changed its tactics Widespread backlash to Operation Metro Surge“Targeted” arrests were preferred over mass raids. But quieter application does not mean less application. Earlier this month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said it had done so 10,000 people arrested In just five days.

This sharp rise in arrests may be fueling it Rampant racial profiling. Federal agents disproportionately target Latinos in the New York City area, according to hundreds of federal court records Analyzed by The City Reporter. Although Latinos make up approximately 66% of the area’s undocumented population, more than 93% of the people snatched from the city’s streets by Homeland Security agents were Latinos. Many of them followed the same pattern of trying to arrest Salgado Araujo in Houston. According to court records, agents would arrest and detain a person they claimed resembled their intended target even if he was not the person they were looking for.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullen, who took over the department after Kristi Noem was ousted, reportedly wanted Provide a softer image on immigration after facing widespread criticism over her tactics in Minnesota — especially ahead of the midterm elections.

If DHS hoped its less overtly aggressive approach would keep ICE out of the headlines, the shooting of Salgado Araujo did the opposite. Hundreds of Protesters gathered in Houston On Wednesday, they walk to the building where Salgado Araujo was killed. Democrats are Calling for an independent investigation From shooting. The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security It is said to be opened Its own investigation. The FBI’s Houston field office is also investigating the alleged assault on a federal law enforcement officer — although witnesses say no assault occurred.

In fact, all three witnesses claimed that ICE agents opened fire without provocation. “It is impossible for them to say they will be run over,” Jose Trinidad Rojas, one of the men traveling with Salgado Araujo, said in a handwritten note seen by police. mailBecause “there were no officers in front or behind the car, they were on the sides of it.”

Hugo Balderas-Ibarra, the lawyer who shared the statements of Trinidad Rojas and other witnesses with the court. mailHe said all survivors independently verified that government vehicles surrounded Salgado Araujo’s truck from two sides and then started shooting.

This is not the first time federal immigration officers have justified shooting civilians by claiming they acted in self-defense. Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who shot Renee Judd, He said he feared for his lifetestified in court that he had previously been dragged for 100 yards by a driver who refused to stop. Charles Exum, the Border Patrol agent who shot Marimar Martinez in Chicago in October 2025, claimed Martinez rammed her car into his government cruiser. But footage from the scenes of both shootings shows otherwise – and even federal officials Shared videos of an unrelated incident A black SUV hit the customer’s truck, claiming to be Martinez.

Since there is no video footage of the ICE shooting of Salgado Araujo, this is the agency’s word against three witnesses, whom the government is now trying to deport. Meanwhile, other Houstonians fear they will end up sharing Salgado Araujo’s fate. “If this is a routine traffic stop,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) He said on Hello Houston After the shooting, “everyone in Houston is afraid to drive on our roads.”

CNN reports that body cameras have been distributed to half of ICE field offices across the country, and the Department of Homeland Security claims that all offices will receive cameras in the next 60 days. Even if video evidence of its agents’ actions isn’t enough to force DHS to hold itself accountable, that footage could spread widely, allowing people to know the truth — even if the government tries to deport eyewitnesses.