Man fatally shot by ICE officer during Houston traffic stop

A man was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas during a traffic stop on Tuesday, the agency told The Hill.

“On July 7, 2026, at approximately 6:50 AM CT, ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop as part of a targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien,” a spokesperson with the agency told The Hill in an email on Tuesday.

“The driver of the vehicle, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo—an illegal alien from Mexico—attempted to evade arrest,” the spokesperson continued.

The spokesperson added that “from information we are receiving,” the driver drove his car into an ICE vehicle, did not give responses to verbal commands and “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense.”

The man was hit by gunfire and taken to a hospital, dying because of his wounds there, the spokesperson added.

“FBI Houston is leading an investigation into the potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer. This is a developing situation, and we will update the public when more information is available.”

Local outlet KHOU reported that the shooting of the Mexican immigrant occurred in Houston’s East End, per ICE.

The Trump administration has faced criticism for its heavy-handed immigration enforcement tactics throughout President Trump’s second term, with that criticism boiling over after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal immigration authorities in Minneapolis earlier this year.