“Help Me. They Shot Me!”

Immigration enforcement was flying under the radar until Tuesday

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by ICE agents.

You might think that because horror stories about mass deportations have mostly faded from the headlines that Donald Trump has eased up on his draconian immigration policy. He has not. And what happened in Houston on Tuesday brought ICE and its immigration crackdown back into the spotlight.

While he tries to divert our attention with ballrooms and reflecting pools, Trump has actually doubled down on the mass deportation agenda he implemented one year ago. This is despite his policies, which caused the deaths of two American citizens and dozens of undocumented immigrants, notwithstanding the hundreds of federal judges who ruled against the administration thousands of times, and regardless of public sentiment shifting hard against his immigration policy.

As the president and his immigration policy architect, Stephen Miller, mark the anniversary of their brutal and often illegal campaign, the family of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo is in mourning.

Salgado came to the United States from Mexico almost 35 years ago. He built a successful construction business, building homes in the booming Houston suburbs, but did not possess documentation to legally live and work in the United States. Salgado and his wife had three sons, whom they put through college.

Early on Tuesday morning, Salgado was heading to a job site after picking up his brother and two others when two unmarked SUVs started following his white van and boxed him in on a Houston side street. Things quickly escalated, and Salgado, who has no criminal record, was fatally shot in the stomach by a plain-clothed ICE agent.

ICE claims he “refused to follow several verbal commands” from agents in the SUVs and that he rammed their car with his, “weaponizing his vehicle.”

A passing car captured video of Salgado crying in agony on the ground. He could be heard saying, “Help me. They shot me!” It was posted to social media, which is how his sons discovered that their father had been killed. Additional videos cast doubt on the ICE agents’ account of what happened.

The public may never know all the facts since Trump’s Justice Department is running the investigation. It has blocked local law enforcement from conducting a parallel investigation, which is the norm, according to the Harris County district attorney.

“What other profession has the power to take somebody’s life in the middle of a street? When Democrats take the House back, ICE, you better buckle up. Because we will be investigating you day after day after day until this lawlessness and this militarism stops,” Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX) said at a press conference.

When Trump first rolled out his mass deportation policy, he promised to get rid of “the worst of the worst.” But federal data paints a very different picture. As of April, the most recent month for which data is available, 71% of detainees have no criminal record, and among those who do, many are for minor offenses. Even border czar Tom Homan claims that only half of those taken into custody are criminals.

For an administration more than happy to flaunt its horrific behavior, it is keeping some of its worst conduct intentionally quiet. This is a marked shift from the start of the mass deportation campaign, when former Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem trumpeted their efforts.

Noem invited camera crews to tag along on midnight raids of apartment buildings, rousing children from their beds and separating them from their parents. She warned undocumented immigrants to leave the country or face deportation in a slick and pricey ad campaign. She ordered ICE and Border Patrol agents into Democratic cities like Minneapolis, resulting in violent clashes, multiple deaths, and widespread protests around the country.

Two months and a flood of terrible publicity later, Noem was out, replaced by Oklahoma Senator and Trump loyalist Markwayne Mullin. Along with the change in leadership came a change in strategy: keep deporting the undocumented, but do it quietly.

They are doing it quietly but also more successfully. ICE is now averaging 2,000 arrests a day, doubling the number from just a few months ago. A big reason is a threefold increase in funding. In June, Congress appropriated $70 billion for immigration enforcement.

Mullin’s new strategy includes using facial recognition software and spreading agents around the country to red and blue states, rather than targeting specific cities. This is cutting down on lawsuits and bad press while reducing the number of incendiary videos that go viral.

Immigration is not the winning agenda item it once was, which is likely why Trump has muted his anti-immigrant public relations campaign. A new Gallup poll shows that 58% disapprove of “deporting all immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally back to their home country,” while 73% of Americans believe immigration is a net positive for the country.

It doesn’t help when ICE arrests people like Sister Leticia Ugboaja, a Catholic nun and registered nurse who was on her way to Mass in Texas. She was released after several hours in detention.

All of this is happening after the Supreme Court handed down two important immigration rulings at the end of its term, one win and one loss for Trump.

The loss, rejecting his bid to end birthright citizenship, comes with a slight caveat. Even though legal experts say there is no avenue for it, Trump says he will ask the Court for a rehearing.

That win for Trump ended a federal humanitarian program that protected immigrants from eligible countries who had faced armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. The revocation of temporary protected status would allow for the deportation of more than 350,000 immigrants who have had legal status. You can practically see Stephen Miller rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Houston is one of America’s most diverse and fastest-growing cities. It has a so-called majority-minority population with twice as many Latinos as whites. That is, Latinos have a plurality but not an outright majority. The city is home to an estimated 650,000 undocumented immigrants, many of whom are vital to the Houston economy. Half a million of them hold jobs, especially in the construction industry. Men like Lorenzo Salgado Araujo helped build the city’s boom.

The country’s immigration policies may be in need of changes, but not like this. Killing men in the street is not the answer.

We hope you will consider supporting Steady’s efforts to protect our democracy through the power of independent journalism by becoming a paid subscriber. It’s one of the best deals on Substack. I thank you for your support!

No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading.

Stay Steady,
Dan