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Bulwark fam, today we have an emergency edition of Huddled Masses after ICE once again shot and killed someone, this time in Houston: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, a father of three U.S. citizen sons who has been in the country thirty-five years and was picking up his construction crew for work in North Houston before he was swarmed by ICE agents in a confrontation that ended with his shooting death.
I spoke to his sons, which was heartbreaking, but important so we know more about this small business owner, father, and husband beyond what ICE tells us about him.
–Adrian
He Lived Here for 35 Years. Put Three Kids in College. ICE Killed Him.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was picking up a crew for a construction project when ICE shot him. It now claims he was the aggressor.
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LORENZO SALGADO ARAUJO CAME TO THE UNITED STATES thirty-five years ago—a few years too late to benefit from the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, popularly known as the “Reagan amnesty.” He worked in construction. By the 2000s, he was a small business owner who provided jobs and work for other men. They would drive to the North Houston suburbs and build houses. His dream was to build his own home for his family one day—a dream he achieved.
On Tuesday morning, Lorenzo was picking up workers as usual shortly after 6 a.m. when he was confronted by ICE and killed. He was 52 years old.
The shooting in Houston’s historically Mexican-American East End community near Magnolia Park took place just five minutes from the site of Houston’s FIFA Fan Festival.
Lorenzo’s son Ronaldo Salgado, a teacher, wrote on Facebook Tuesday night that his father had been in the process of obtaining his work permit through the legal process.
Speaking at a press conference Wednesday morning, Ronaldo thanked his former students for being in attendance and Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) for spending time in the hospital with him overnight.
He said Lorenzo had been a hardworking man of routine, one who never cared for his name to be known outside his family, only for his children—three sons, all born in the United States—to be educated and to become good people.
“I love our dad, he worked hard,” Ronaldo told me in an interview after the press conference. “He always told us that we needed to do well in school so we don’t end up like him in the sun.”
On Tuesday, Lorenzo’s day began at 5 a.m., the same way it did every day: “with a hearty meal prepared by my mom,” Ronaldo said.
But after taking his coffee and loading his work boots in the car to pick up his crew for work on houses in North Houston, Lorenzo was beset by ICE agents in unmarked cars. Some sort of confrontation ensued. He was shot. He died of his injuries at a hospital.
As Ronaldo wrote this morning, “Today is the first day without him for all of us, and it is heartbreaking to know that my mom did not make lunch for my dad before going to work—the first time in their 30+ year marriage.”
In the emotional press conference, Ronaldo described his desperate scramble to find out information about what happened to his father. When he first heard about an interaction with ICE, the reports were conflicting. He hoped his father had simply been detained, so his first plan had been to find his father’s white work van and deliver it to his crew so that they might be able to finish work and get paid.
As time went on, Ronaldo remained in the dark. He did not learn about his father’s final moments from a hospital or law enforcement. Instead, confirmation of his death came in the cruel form of videos on social media.
“I recognized him immediately: not from his appearance, but from his voice crying in the street as he was bleeding out,” Ronaldo said through tears.
STANDING THERE HONORING HIS FATHER at the press conference this morning, Ronaldo demonstrated why he and his brothers were their dad’s pride and joy. They had become educated: Ronaldo, 29, graduated from the University of Houston; Lorenzo Jr., 27, from Tufts University; and their youngest brother is in college now.
Ronaldo said he wants his father to be remembered as a fan of the Mexican national team and of C.D. Guadalajara (Chivas), and as a man who sat on his porch every evening after work petting his dog and looking out in satisfaction at the life he’d built in this country.
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In our interview, Ronaldo and Lorenzo Jr. told me about what their dad cherished. They took turns ticking off what he loved to eat. “Chile relleno, pozole, chilaquiles,” they said. “Anything my mom made with love,” Ronaldo added. He supported their mom’s garden, buying her flowers to plant, and he loved a good deal at the flea market. Last week it was a “big pot” for tamales, which reminded the young men of their childhood where, while they didn’t have a lot, they never wanted for anything.
One thing Lorenzo especially loved was his John Deere riding lawnmower. It was more than just a machine to him. The yard in the Araujos’ old home was too small for a riding mower. But with the bigger yard in their new home he “was able to justify the purchase,” Ronaldo said. It was a symbol of pride and progress.
Three men were also in the van with Lorenzo at the time of the shooting, including Lorenzo’s brother. They have been detained, and their current whereabouts are unknown. Both the Araujo family and local activists fear the men will be quickly deported to prevent them from providing testimony about ICE’s actions.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment on the location of the three witnesses.
“I hope they can provide statements that my father feared for his life,” Ronaldo said.