ICE pressures three people linked to murdered immigrant Lorenzo Salgado to leave the US
They report that ICE detained three people linked to murdered immigrant Lorenzo Salgado and is allegedly pressuring them to leave the United States.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) is exerting pressure against three people close to Mexican Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, an immigrant shot dead by one of its officers in Houston, Texas.
The incident occurred Wednesday before 7 a.m. in Houston's East End, near Magnolia Park.
According to a statement released by the federal agency, the 52-year-old Mexican allegedly not only refused to cooperate with authorities during an immigration control operation where he was asked to get out of the vehicle he was driving, but instead tried to run over an ICE officer.
“He refused to obey multiple verbal commands and used his vehicle as a weapon in an attempt to run over an ICE agent, which caused our agent to fire his weapon in self-defense,” part of the letter states.
What is controversial is that Juan Proaño, executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), mentioned that Salgado Araujo was in the process of obtaining legal status in the United States and therefore the ICE version emphasizing the Mexican's reluctance to stop his vehicle to cooperate as requested is not credible.
In a statement issued by the LULAC it was also reported that, after having shot the targeted immigrant, ICE proceeded to detain Víctor Salgado Araujo, the victim's brother; as well as José Trinidad Rojas and Daniel Tirado Patoja, who are mentioned as his workers.
The three people identified are allegedly being pressured to voluntarily leave US territory.
"We understand that they are all undocumented, but they have deep roots in the community. They worked with Doreto and his company for many years, and they are being pressured to sign self-deportation orders.
Currently, they do not have legal representation, and we are managing the defense fund to be able to present their cases.
We are extremely concerned that attempts are being made to expel these witnesses from the country. They shouldn't do it. We should be able to count on their testimony.
They should be interviewed by an inspector who can record what happened, since they could be the only eyewitnesses,” says part of a shared letter.