Lawmakers demand answers after fatal ICE shooting in Texas

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Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are calling for an investigation after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot a Mexican immigrant in Houston on Tuesday.

An ICE spokesperson said officers with the agency had tried to conduct a vehicle stop as part of a targeted operation. The driver, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, did not follow commands, struck an ICE vehicle, and “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer,” leading the officer to fire his weapon, the spokesperson said.

Araujo died at the hospital from his wounds, according to ICE.

Democrats in Washington are now asking for an investigation.

“Lorenzo Salgado Araujo should be here with us today. No family should have to spend the day after their father was killed demanding answers. ICE must be held accountable. We deserve a full, independent, transparent investigation — now. My heart is with his family, his loved ones, and the entire community,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) wrote on the social platform X.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) echoed similar sentiments, arguing that “we need a full investigation.”

“This is exactly what Democrats have been demanding. Real reforms in ICE, we need independent investigations, we need body cameras, clear identification, no mask, and anti-paramilitary-style immigration enforcement in our streets. These are very basic, basic standards of accountability,” Garcia said in a news conference.

“We need to know why Lorenzo was targeted. We need to know who authorized the operation. We need to know what threat agents believed they face,” Garcia added.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) wrote on X that, “His family deserves answers. We need a full, independent investigation, and those responsible must be held accountable.”

Araujo’s family has also demanded an explanation. His son said Araujo had lived in the U.S. for 35 years and was on his way to a worksite when the shooting occurred. Garcia said Araujo had no criminal convictions.

She also pointed to the death of 37-year-old Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier this year. That officer also said Good attempted to strike him with a vehicle, a claim that has been contested by local and state officials.

“Remember Minneapolis? Remember Renee Good?” Garcia said. “Has ICE learned nothing from that experience? What are they thinking? So, yet here we are, nearly six months later.”

Democrats have blasted the Trump administration for its immigration crackdown and argued that ICE needs to be overhauled.

They refused to back a Department of Homeland Security funding bill after the deaths of Good and Alex Pretti, another 37-year-old Minneapolis resident and U.S. citizen, at the hands of federal immigration agents, and urged the White House to reform its immigration enforcement tactics. Republicans ended up funding ICE and Border Patrol for three years through the party-line budget reconciliation process, which allowed them to bypass a filibuster in the Senate.

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Jasmine Crockett

Nydia Velazquez

Sylvia Garcia

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