A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting a witness to a fatal ICE shooting in Houston that occurred earlier this month. The order was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas by Judge Keith P. Ellison.
The shooting happened on July 7 during a traffic stop. ICE agents stopped a van carrying several men, including Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was allegedly undocumented. ICE alleged that Salgado Araujo did not follow verbal commands and "weaponized his vehicle" by trying to run over an officer, prompting an agent to fire in what ICE described as self-defense. Salgado Araujo died from the shooting.
Local elected leaders said Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, had lived and worked in the United States for 35 years and was not the target of the ICE operation. No charges have been filed, and an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego was one of the men inside the van during the stop. He was detained by federal agents afterward. According to court filings, Pliego has no criminal record. He has been in the country since 1998, is common-law married to a U.S. citizen, and has three children and four stepchildren who are all U.S. citizens. Under Judge Ellison's order, Pliego cannot be deported or moved outside of the Southern District of Texas while the court considers his case.
Attorney Raed Gonzalez filed the petition on behalf of Pliego and another witness, Daniel Tirado Pantoja, who was also riding in the van and has also been detained. Pantoja has been in the United States since 1996. He has a son and stepdaughter who are both U.S. citizens and also has no criminal record, according to the filing.
A different attorney has filed a similar petition for Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, the brother of the man who was shot, who has also been detained. Both Pliego and Pantoja are currently being held at the Montgomery ICE Processing Center in Conroe, Texas.
Salgado Araujo's death has sparked peaceful protests in Houston and calls from some Texas Democrats for ICE to scale back its immigration enforcement operations.
