Man Fatally Shot by ICE in Houston Was Not Intended Target, DHS Says

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Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national, was driving himself and three co-workers to a construction site in Houston on Tuesday when ICE agents opened fire on his van, killing him. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Salgado was not the intended target of the operation.

DHS said that ICE agents had been surveilling a specific address where two white vans had been seen weeks prior to the incident and initiated a traffic stop believing they had found one of the vans. However, when they approached the vehicle, they shot and killed Salgado after he allegedly tried to 'ram an ICE vehicle.'

But in a shocking twist, the DHS released another statement on Thursday claiming that Salgado was not the intended target of the operation. This revelation has sparked widespread outrage and protests in Houston, with four Democratic Congress members calling for an independent investigation into Salgado's death. They pointed out that there have been multiple instances of ICE agents using 'unnecessary, deadly force' in the past.

Salgado had been working as a builder in the Houston area for over three decades, having come to the US as an undocumented migrant. His family described him as a hardworking man with no prior convictions who was on the verge of obtaining a work permit at the time of his death. The Mexican government has announced plans to file criminal complaints against the US over Salgado's death, citing over a dozen similar incidents where Mexicans have been killed in US custody.

A spokesperson from DHS revealed that only half of their field officers are currently equipped with body cameras, while the other half will receive them in the next 60 days.

The incident has raised concerns about the use of deadly force by ICE agents and the lack of transparency in their operations. In the wake of Salgado's death, there have been growing calls for greater accountability and oversight of ICE's actions.