Immigration Customs and Enforcement officials killed a man during a traffic stop in Houston on Tuesday. Days later, the Department of Homeland Security admitted to CNN the man was the wrong target.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican-born father, husband and business owner, had been in the U.S. for 35 years. He was not an American citizen but was close to obtaining a work permit and working toward a legal status. His family learned about his death through news articles and social media, his son told the New York Times.
DHS officials said on Tuesday Araujo was being targeted because he was living in America without legal documentation.
The department said in an X post ICE agents attempted a traffic stop “as part of a targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien.”
The post alleged Araujo tried to evade arrest, ignored verbal commands and “weaponized his vehicle” to run over an ICE officer.
According to the post, an officer shot him in self-defense, and Araujo was taken to the hospital where he died from his injuries.
Federal officials have not released video footage or photos of the shooting. According to CBS News, the ICE officer who shot Araujo was not wearing a body camera because none of the officers in that field office were provided with them. A DHS spokesperson said half the field offices in Houston are now equipped with body cameras, and the other half will receive them in the next 60 days.
Representatives Sylvia Garcia, Al Green, Lizzie Fletcher and Christian Menefee wrote a letter to DHS demanding a fully independent investigation into Araujo’s death.
They wrote this was “not the first time ICE agents have used unnecessary, deadly force.”
They referenced the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed in January during a surge of immigration enforcement in Minneapolis.
The representatives also demanded information on who authorized the operation, the sequence of events leading up to the shooting and what measures DHS and ICE will take to prevent a recurrence of violence against civilians, according to the letter.
“His family, the community, and the public deserve a complete and transparent account of what happened,” they wrote.
Contact Angelique Rodriguez at arodriguez@alligator.org. Follow her on X @angeliquesrod.
Angelique Rodriguez is a journalism freshman and the Summer 2026 El Caiman Editor. She has spent two semesters at The Alligator as a University Reporter and El Caiman Reporter before becoming an editor. When she's not working, you can find Angie reading, hanging out with friends, or rewatching her rotation of favorite shows.
