In less than a week, two men were fatally shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, reigniting anger over the Trump administration's aggressive deportation campaign. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, was driving to work in Houston, Texas, when agents tailed his car and shot him through the passenger-side window. Six days later, in Biddeford, Maine, Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, 26, was stopped at an intersection and shot dead outside a laundromat he frequented with his daughter.
Details of the shootings
Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, had lived in the U.S. for 35 years, was married, and had three U.S. citizen children. Durán Guerrero, from Colombia, worked multiple jobs to support his wife and daughter. Neither was the intended target of the operations. Witness videos have cast doubt on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) claims that Salgado Araujo "weaponized his vehicle" and that agents fired at Durán Guerrero "fearing for public safety."
According to the Trace, a gun violence tracking outlet, these were the 29th and 30th people immigration officers have shot at since Trump took office, with eight killed. Another man died after fleeing agents in Florida, and 22 people have died in ICE custody this year.
Public outcry and protests
Thousands of protesters have marched in Houston and Biddeford, demanding ICE leave their cities and calling for independent investigations. In Houston, demonstrators chanted "¡Justicia para Lorenzo!" outside city hall, urging Mayor John Whitmire and the city council to act. In Maine, hundreds attended a vigil for Durán Guerrero, though many immigrants feared retaliation from ICE.
"Nobody should have to learn their rights standing at a memorial for their neighbor," said Neidi Dominguez, executive director of Organized Power in Numbers. Volunteers distributed "know-your-rights" pamphlets at Salgado Araujo's memorial, echoing scenes from previous killings.
Supercharged deportation campaign
The Trump administration has made ICE the highest-funded law enforcement agency, with $70 billion allocated for ICE and Customs and Border Protection, including $38 billion for arrests, detention, and deportations. Thousands of new agents have been recruited, often with questionable vetting, while offices investigating deaths and civil rights abuses have been dismantled.
After the killings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, Trump demoted border patrol official Gregory Bovino and fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. DHS promised body cameras for agents, but those involved in the latest shootings were not wearing them. A pause on vehicle pullovers was quickly overturned by the president.
"It's just happening so quickly. So people can't get there to observe, record and report," said Gracie Willis, an attorney with the National Immigration Project. "Often all that's left is an empty car sitting there."
Broader impact and resistance
ICE agents are targeting immigrants in smaller cities and towns, with surges in arrests in Iowa and Wisconsin. The New York Times reported over 10,000 detentions in the last five days of June. Despite ICE's claims of arresting the "worst of the worst," data shows most detainees have no criminal convictions.
A recent Supreme Court ruling could strip temporary protected status from 1.3 million Haitians and Syrians, making them subject to immediate arrest. In Houston, residents continue to resist. "ICE is a domestic terrorist organization. They are killing our fathers on the streets in cold blood," said Jasmine Khadem Gonzalez, an immigrant rights organizer with the Houston Democratic Socialists of America.
