Abbott directs state investigation into ICE Houston shooting

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday said the Texas Rangers are investigating the fatal shooting of a Mexican national in Houston last week by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. While Democrats have called for a moratorium on ICE enforcement, President Donald Trump said ICE was doing important work and traffic enforcement would continue.

At a news conference in Houston, Abbott said, “Any loss of life is tragic. Everyone in Texas wants to ensure there’s not a loss of life.” He also said that Texas Department of Public Safety officials, Texas Rangers, the Houston Police Department and federal officials met to discuss the shooting Tuesday and the Texas Rangers are launching their own investigation.

“Any time the Texas Rangers are involved, they work independently,” he added.

“One thing we want to see in Texas and across America is we don’t want to see people shot. That is separate from enforcing federal immigration law. It’s been proven “that immigration laws can be enforced and stopping illegal immigration can be achieved without shooting people,” he told reporters in a Houston suburb.

The announcement came after HPD Chief Noe Diaz requested Texas DPS Col. Freeman Martin to have the Texas Rangers conduct an independent investigation into the shooting.

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General and FBI have already launched separate investigations, The Center Square reported.

In response to Abbott’s announcement, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said, “At a time like this, we must set aside politics and partisanship and focus on the facts. At the same time, the federal government must do its part by requiring body cameras and stronger training for ICE officers to help transparency, accountability, and public trust, as we do with the Houston Police Department.”

At issue are different accounts about what happened before, during and after the shooting that occurred last Tuesday morning.

DHS initially said that ICE officers “attempted to conduct a vehicle stop as part of a targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien. The driver of the vehicle, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo – an illegal alien from Mexico – attempted to evade arrest.” In response, DHS said, Araujo “rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple 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.”

Yhe ICE officer struck Araujo and emergency services were immediately contacted, DHS said. Araujo was transported to the hospital where he died.

Three illegal foreign nationals inside the van said Araujo was shot from the passenger side and ICE agents weren’t in front of the van, the Houston Chronicle reported.

DHS later told U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat representing Houston, that Araujo was not the target of the operation. She and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said they were holding a field hearing on the fatal shooting at the end of the month in Houston, The Center Square reported.

On Tuesday, several news outlets cited anonymous sources stating DHS and ICE suspended traffic related immigration enforcement. President Donald Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan told Fox News doing so wasn’t a policy change but a “temporary pause. This is going to be a short-term review to make sure ICE agents are safe and doing the right thing.”

On Wednesday, Trump overruled Homan, stating traffic enforcement wasn’t ending.

“The men and women of ICE are doing a GREAT job, one that has to be done,” he said in a Truth Social post. Because the Biden administration released millions of people illegally into the country “unchecked and unvetted,” many of whom were criminals, he said, “we have to get them out. In order to do this, we must be strong, tough, and smart, and we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP! Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands.”