Latina Civic Action Calls for Independent Investigation Into Salgado Araujo Shooting
Photo courtesy of Stateside Affairs.
AC JosepH Media
TRENTON — Latina Civic Action joins the family of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, community advocates, and elected officials nationwide in demanding a full, independent investigation into his fatal shooting by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a traffic stop in Houston, Texas, on July 7.
Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who had lived and worked in the United States for 35 years, was driving a construction crew to a job site when he was stopped by agents in unmarked vehicles.
His family says he may have believed he was being robbed. He leaves behind three sons, all U.S. citizens, and was in the process of applying for legal status — a process his family says he pursued diligently and in good faith.
The Department of Homeland Security has claimed Salgado Araujo struck an ICE vehicle and attempted to ram an agent before he was shot. No video of the shooting itself has been released.
The circumstances echo other recent fatal encounters with federal immigration agents, including the January killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis and the shooting of Alex Pretti days later — cases in which initial government accounts were later called into question and federal review has produced little public accountability.
“Families across this country, including here in New Jersey, are living in fear that a routine encounter, a traffic stop, a knock at the door, could end in death, with no video, no transparency, and no accountability. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was a husband, a father, and an employer to dozens of men chasing the same American dream he spent 35 years building. He deserved better than to become a statistic,” says Patricia Campos-Medina, President Latina Civic Action.
Maria del Cid, a member of the Board of Latina Civic Action, said the ICE-related shooting death is precisely why New Jersey has led the way in enacting protections that limit state and local entanglement with federal immigration enforcement.
“Through the Immigrant Trust Directive and subsequent state legislation, New Jersey has made clear that state and local resources should not be used to facilitate federal civil immigration enforcement, and that all New Jerseyans — regardless of immigration status — are entitled to due process and equal protection under the law,” del Cid said.
“Incidents like the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo underscore why these protections matter and why ICE must be held to a standard of transparency and accountability equal to that expected of any other law enforcement agency operating in our communities.”
Latina Civic Action said it remains committed to advocating for due process, transparency, and the safety of immigrant families in New Jersey and across the country, and will continue to support policy efforts — including the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative — aimed at providing legal representation to community members in immigration dentition.
Latina Civic Action advocates for the rights of Latinas to have a seat at the table in government and politics so that the community can have a voice in enacting policies that encourage economic opportunity, equity, and inclusion across all areas of society.
Their goal is to directly engage voters and educate them to vote for the issues and candidates that advance their mission of empowering Latinas. For more information or to support our mission, visit www.latinacivicaction.com.
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