LWVUS joined a coalition letter to members of Congress concerning the recent ICE shootings of Mr. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas and of Mr. Joan Sebastian Guerrero Biddeford, Maine. The letter scrutinizes the lack of safeguards and oversight around CBP and ICE funding and calls on Congress to open an independent investigation into the shootings.
July 14, 2026
Dear Member of Congress:
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the 131 additional undersigned civil and human rights organizations are profoundly concerned about the recent fatal shooting of Mr. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, age 52, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Houston. And as of this writing, we are gathering information about yet another fatal shooting by ICE yesterday in Biddeford, Maine.
These tragic shootings appear to fit into a pattern that was completely foreseeable, given the steadfast refusal of Congress to engage in proper oversight of ICE and Customs & Border Protection (CBP). We call on you to hold ICE accountable by demanding a full, independent, and transparent investigation into what led to these deaths, and to bring ICE and CBP under control of Congress, the courts, and the Constitution.
As has been widely reported, until Tuesday, July 7, 2026, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was living the American Dream. Like millions of immigrants before him, he came to the U.S. from Mexico more than three decades ago in search of opportunity. He settled in Houston, built homes for a living, and eventually started his own construction company. Together, he and his wife raised three sons, all of whom pursued higher education and careers of service and innovation: one is a teacher, one is an engineer, and one is studying engineering in college. According to his family, Mr. Araujo had no criminal record and was actively pursuing legal avenues to regularize his immigration status.
During the early morning hours of July 7, Mr. Araujo was picking up members of his construction crew before heading to work when he was reportedly pursued by an unmarked vehicle. A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson has acknowledged that ICE was not actively looking for Mr. Araujo. ICE has presented certain claims as to what happened next, immediately before Mr. Araujo was fatally shot. These claims simply cannot be accepted at face value.
ICE’s claims related to the shocking and untimely death of Mr. Araujo are particularly suspect because, as DHS itself acknowledges, the agents involved in the shooting were not wearing body-worn cameras. And DHS’s attempt to pin the failure of the officers to wear body-worn cameras on a partial government shutdown strains credulity, given that the last shutdown ended several months ago, and given that ICE had received years’ worth of funding under the 2025 budget reconciliation bill. Especially in light of this failure, every other piece of relevant evidence, including surveillance video, radio communications, and witness statements, must be preserved and released to the public.
The claims are also suspect because DHS has, in multiple instances, falsely tried to justify immigration enforcement-related shootings by claiming victims tried to harm officers. In the 2025 shooting of Marimar Martinez in Chicago, ICE alleged she tried to ram federal agents, but video evidence later showed that to be false, and the criminal charges against her were dismissed. Earlier this year in Minneapolis, ICE claimed Renee Good tried to hit an officer with her vehicle before she was fatally shot, but video showed she was clearly steering away from the officer before he shot her. Days later, an ICE agent shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg, which DHS claimed was done in self-defense, but the claim was later disproven by video evidence. That same month in Minneapolis, DHS officials falsely accused Alex Pretti of “wishing to inflict harm” on officers, but video soon showed he never brandished a weapon and had been disarmed before he was fatally shot.
In short, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have a long and growing history of using excessive and deadly force, presenting false narratives, and refusing to hold officers accountable.
At the same time, Congress has given ICE and Border Patrol staggering amounts of additional funding, while refusing to provide any new meaningful oversight or safeguards against civil and human rights violations.
We urge you to demand a fully independent investigation as well as the immediate release of all available evidence related to the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and this most recent ICE-related shooting in Maine. The public deserves the truth, and the Salgado family deserves justice. We urge you to work towards meaningful accountability measures as we move forward.
Sincerely,
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
League of United Latin American Citizens
#AfghanEvac
50501
A. Philip Randolph Institute
AFT
Alianza Americas
Alliance for Quality Education
American Civil Liberties Union
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
American Humanist Association
America’s Voice
Arab American Institute (AAI)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
Ayuda
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Bienestar Human Services
Care in Action
Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues
Common Cause
Court Accountability Action
Defending Rights & Dissent
Demand Progress
Dēmos
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Drug Policy Alliance
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)
Equal Justice Society
EQUAL MEANS EQUAL
Equal Rights Advocates
Equality California
Estrella del Paso
Feminist Majority Foundation
Free Speech For People
Friends Outside
Frontera de Cristo
Fund for Leadership, Equity, Access and Diversity (LEAD Fund)
GAIN Power
Get Free
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees
Greenpeace USA
Haitian Bridge Alliance
HIAS
Hindus for Human Rights
Hispanic Federation
Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative
Human Rights Campaign
Human Rights First
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef)
Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)
Immigrants Rising
Impact Fund
Indivisible
Indo-American Center
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti
Japanese American Citizens League
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jobs to Move America
Just Detention International
Justice for Migrant Women
Kino Border Initiative
La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE)
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA)
LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Lavender Rights Project
Lawyers for Good Government
League of Women Voters of the United States
Legal Aid at Work
Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition
MANA, A National Latina Organization
MoveOn
Mpact Global
Muslim Advocates
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF)
National Action Network
National Association of Social Workers
National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD)
National Council of Jewish Women
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Education Association
National Hispanic Council on Aging
National Hispanic Media Coalition
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Immigration Law Center
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC)
National Organization for Women
National Women’s Law Center
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
NMAC
Oasis Legal Services
People For the American Way
People Power United
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Public Citizen
Public Justice
Quixote Center
Reproductive Freedom for All
Ribbon – A Center of Excellence
Right To Be
Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center
Sanctuary for Families
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Showing Up for Racial Justice
Sojourners
South Asian Network
South Asian Public Health Association
South Asian SOAR
Southern Border Communities Coalition
Stop AAPI Hate
The Sikh Coalition
The Southern Poverty Law Center
The Workers Circle
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
UnidosUS
Union for Reform Judaism
Union of Concerned Scientists
United Auto Workers
United Church of Christ
United Parent Leaders Action Network
USAHello
VECINA
Venezuelan American Caucus
Vera Institute of Justice
Visibility Brigade
Waves Ahead Corp
Western States Center
Win Without War