Lawmakers Say DHS Is Stonewalling Them Over the ICE Shooting of Lorenzo Salgado in Houston

Members of Congress held an oversight forum in Houston on July 24, 2026 over the July 7 shooting death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national killed when ICE agents opened fire on a van he was driving to work. The agents, who wore no body cameras, said Salgado had "weaponized" the vehicle and that they fired in self-defense; multiple witnesses dispute that account. Representative Sylvia Garcia said her delegation has received no answers from the Department of Homeland Security, and Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said DHS refuses to identify the officer who fired.

Congressional access to records and a prosecutor's ability to identify a shooter are the ordinary channels for examining use of force. When both report refusal, the question shifts from what happened to whether any outside body can establish it — and the missing footage removes the usual independent record.

Representative Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said "no agency is above accountability." The county investigation continues; no federal findings have been released.