ICE's Three Eyewitnesses to the Lorenzo Salgado Araujo Shooting Are Being Pressured to Self-Deport, LULAC CEO Says

Since ICE fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a Houston traffic stop on July 7, a new layer of accountability questions has emerged: the three surviving eyewitnesses to the shooting are being pressured to sign self-deportation paperwork while still in federal detention.

Who the witnesses are

According to KPRC 2 and LULAC, the three men are Mexican nationals: Víctor Hugo Salgado Araujo, the victim's brother; Daniel Tirado Pantoja; and José Trinidad Rojas Pliego, both employees of Salgado Araujo's construction business. All three were in the van when ICE opened fire around 6:50 a.m. on July 7. LULAC says they are currently held at an ICE detention facility in Conroe, Texas, though KPRC 2 noted it could not independently confirm that location.

Juan Proaño, LULAC's CEO, told both The New Republic and KPRC 2 that two of the three men are "inclined" to sign voluntary departure paperwork. "They're being pressured to sign self-deportation orders," Proaño told The New Republic. "They're currently in detention. These men hold the key to what actually happened."

The competing accounts

DHS maintains that Salgado Araujo "weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer" and that the agent fired in self-defense. The agency confirmed he was struck in the abdomen and died at the hospital.

The three detained witnesses tell a different story. Attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra shared their accounts with The Washington Post: according to those accounts, ICE vehicles surrounded the work van on both sides and opened fire into it. They say Salgado Araujo never attempted to ram anyone.

DHS has presented no physical evidence—no damage to a vehicle, no officer injury report—supporting its self-defense claim, according to reporting by The New Republic. There is also no body camera footage. DHS attributes the absence of cameras to a 76-day government shutdown that cut off additional federal funding for ICE and CBP equipment.

Surveillance video obtained by KPRC 2 captures moments before the shooting but does not include the shooting itself.

Why this matters for any investigation

If the three witnesses self-deport before investigators or Congress can take their statements, obtaining their accounts under oath becomes considerably harder. Voluntary departure agreements typically require the individual to leave within a set period. Once outside the United States, compelled testimony in a domestic investigation is not available through standard legal process.

Proaño has been direct about the stakes: "We need them to stay. They're the only witnesses to what actually happened. They were in the vehicle, and we need to get their statements while they're on U.S. soil."

Congress moves to preserve evidence

On July 10, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Al Green (D-TX) led a formal letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem demanding that the department turn over all video footage, officer records, evidence of injuries or vehicle damage supporting the self-defense claim, and any records related to encouraging witnesses to self-deport. The letter formally directs DHS to preserve all evidence tied to the shooting.

"ICE has allegedly encouraged these witnesses, Mr. Salgado Araujo's brother and two of their co-workers, to sign paperwork for self-deportation from the United States," the members wrote. "This is incredibly concerning, as these men would be critical to any investigation into the fatal shooting."

No Republican members of the committee have issued statements on the witness-deportation question as of July 10.

The strongest defense of the government's position

Federal immigration officials operate under standing legal authority to detain and process undocumented individuals encountered during enforcement operations, regardless of the circumstances of the arrest. Self-deportation is a voluntary process: the detainees can, in principle, refuse to sign. DHS has not publicly acknowledged applying pressure, and no internal document has yet surfaced showing officials were directed to push witnesses toward departure. LULAC, as an advocacy organization, is not a neutral party. Proaño has been coordinating media strategy for the families, which gives him standing but also an interest in the outcome. The allegation of coordinated pressure is, at this point, attributed to detainees relaying their experiences through family members, not independently documented.

The structural reality is this: detainees facing deportation proceedings, held in a federal facility, being offered a faster exit option in the immediate aftermath of a shooting that implicates the agency holding them. That is an environment where the line between a standard processing offer and coercive pressure is genuinely difficult to verify from the outside.

What DHS attributed the incident to

DHS said agents were conducting surveillance on a "target's address" after a tip from law enforcement partners. The agency said agents observed a white van matching two white vans previously seen at the property and initiated a stop. Sources cited by both The New York Times and CNN—and confirmed by the office of Rep. Sylvia Garcia—have said Salgado Araujo was NOT the intended target. DHS's public statement did not concede that point.

Proaño called the stop "100% profiling" and said agents were "casing a 97% Latino community in Magnolia Park" in Houston's Magnolia Park neighborhood.

The open question Congress is now forcing

The House Democrats' letter sets a deadline for DHS to respond and formally places the agency on notice that destroying or withholding records would carry legal consequence. What Congress has not yet established is whether any independent investigation—by the FBI, DOJ's Office of Inspector General, or a Texas state authority—has been opened. That question remains unanswered as of July 10, 2026.