Judge keeps ICE shooting witness in Texas as probe presses on
A federal judge blocked ICE from deporting Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, a witness to the fatal Houston shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
By Sal Moretti · Money Reporter
3 min read
A Texas federal judge has ordered immigration officials to keep a key witness in the Houston ICE shooting case in the area, at least for now.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison on Monday blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego unless the agency first gets permission from the court, according to the judge’s order. Ellison also barred ICE from moving Rojas Pliego out of the Southern District of Texas without prior approval.
Rojas Pliego is in deportation proceedings and was one of three construction workers inside a work van driven by Lorenzo Salgado Araujo when Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by an ICE officer on July 7 in Houston, according to CBS News. One of the other witnesses being held by ICE is Salgado Araujo’s brother.
The shooting has become part of a wider fight over immigration enforcement under President Trump. Less than a week after Salgado Araujo’s death, a Colombian immigrant was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Maine, according to CBS News.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has said the officer who shot Salgado Araujo acted in self-defense. DHS has claimed Salgado Araujo used his work van as a weapon during a traffic stop.
Salgado Araujo’s family has challenged that account and has called for an independent investigation into the killing, according to CBS News. DHS has said Salgado Araujo was in the United States illegally, but the department has also acknowledged that ICE agents were searching for someone else when they stopped his vehicle.
Local and federal reviews are under way
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare’s office is investigating the July 7 shooting. Federal officials are also conducting a separate review, CBS News reported.
Teare told CBS News that he filed paperwork to help the three detained witnesses seek U visas. Those protections can shield crime victims from deportation when they assist law enforcement with an investigation.
Teare also said he is “more than prepared” to bring charges against immigration agents “if the case and the evidence directs us that criminal wrongdoing occurred.”
The case has also included a dispute over what may have been inside the van. Last week, the FBI filed an affidavit in federal court that included photos an agent said suggested methamphetamine may have been present in the vehicle, according to CBS News.
Teare has disputed that allegation. Ruby Powers, an attorney for Salgado Araujo’s brother, told CBS News the material in question was likely salt used in a homemade electrolyte mixture to cope with summer heat.
Ellison’s order means Rojas Pliego cannot be removed from the country or transferred away from the Houston-area federal district unless ICE first returns to court.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.