Mayor John Whitmire speaks during a news conference flanked by elected officials at Houston City Hall in Houston on Friday, July 10, 2026, regarding the officer-involved shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a federal immigration enforcement operation and the detention of the two passengers who were in the vehicle with him.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
The scene at City Hall’s public session Tuesday was tense. In the wake of the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on July 7, anger took over the microphone. There were chants, threats and even a couple police officers escorting folks out.
Don’t get distracted by the chaos.
The reality is that a vast majority of Houstonians are united in the call for accountability. Polls show that nearly 80% of Houstonians disapprove of ICE — and that was before they killed one of our neighbors. Even Gov. Greg Abbott says ICE should be able to do its job without spilling blood in our streets.
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Houston needs real answers about Salgado’s death. We need reforms to ICE so that this never happens again. And we need new federal immigration law that reflects the reality on the ground in our city, where homes, businesses and church pews are filled with lifelong Houstonians who raised families here and contributed to our communities but lack a real path to legal status.
Everyone has a role to play in this mission for justice. The protestors. The politicians. Even Mayor John Whitmire.
The protestors help keep Salgado in the news — and we encourage Houstonians to join the peaceful protests happening this weekend, including the Shut It Down For Lorenzo event at Hidalgo Park today at 6 p.m., and a protest planned for Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon at Remembrance Park downtown. These events not only keep the story alive, and keep up pressure on politicians, but also maintain a healthy sense of positivity that keeps the activism moving forward. After all, we’re not just fighting against an out-of-control ICE, but fighting for Houston — fighting for the hair braiders, the musicians, the dancers in their Jalisco skirts who have transformed these protests into a cultural celebration of our city.
While Houstonians march in the streets, our politicians can work the levers of government power. Representatives have met with federal officials, demanded answers and helped protect the witnesses who were in Salgado’s van. They’ve pushed for reforms to end ICE’s reckless dragnet. In Congress, Rep. Sylvia Garcia is working on a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill that will create paths to legal residency for Dreamers brought here as kids and for immigrants with temporary protected status. And in our city today, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is holding a hearing on Salgado’s shooting.
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Closer to home, District Attorney Sean Teare is leading an independent investigation, saying he will go to the “ends of the earth” to get to the truth of Salgado’s death.
Mayor Whitmire also has a role to play.
Until Salgado’s shooting, the mayor’s plan to deal with ICE was to keep his head down, as he told the New York Times.
That approach was supposed to spare us the kinds of vindictive anti-immigrant actions other cities have seen. It was supposed to spare us the bloodshed and heartache. It didn’t.
In the immediate aftermath of Salgado’s shooting, Whitmire seemed at first to double down on the head-down approach, saying that the city had no jurisdiction to hold ICE accountable and that it was up to federal officials to investigate.
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At other times, he has appeared defensive about criticism of his handling of ICE. But we give him credit for calling for a moratorium on ICE operations, meeting with Salgado’s family and even asking that the disruptive protestors Tuesday not be arrested.
We also understand some of the mayor’s defensiveness. Protestors only serve their egos when they curse at the mayor and threaten to show up at his house.
But there’s more the mayor can do.
Whitmire’s appeal has long been his ability to reach across the aisle and champion commonsense policy. That’s one of the reasons why we endorsed him for mayor. Now he’s uniquely positioned to use those skills and call on Houston’s powerful business leaders to speak out against the Trump administration’s misuse of ICE.
Whitmire needs to make it clear to moderates and conservatives that ICE’s tactics are hurting our city. That our economic dynamism is put at risk by a federal immigration regime that refuses to distinguish between a dangerous felon and a family man who lived here for more than 30 years.
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ICE should be deporting criminals, real public threats. But the people whose stories make the news — and many of those who don’t — are not criminals. Often they are longtime Houstonians who make up the backbone of our region’s economy.
Salgado was a builder. For over three decades he helped build Houston. You might be sitting in one of his homes now.
We’ve also written about Luis. In October, ICE stopped him in his work vehicle and detained him. He’s a beloved handyman.
Alim Garipov, a Bellaire High School student, was detained by ICE at Hobby Airport last week. He and his family came to the United States from Russia seeking asylum, and his case is pending. He’s one of the school’s top students and captain of its swim team. He volunteers at Rice University’s biodesign lab.
These aren’t the “worst of the worst” Trump promised to target. They’re people who make Houston stronger.
Restaurants, healthcare, construction, childcare and more rely on our immigrant-rich communities to sustain themselves. While some industry organizations have begun to speak out, we need more. Much more. They know Houston’s resilient economy is due in large part to immigration. We’ve met with business leaders who get it and yet remain far too quiet about what’s happening in our communities. Whitmire should encourage these business leaders to speak out, speak out and speak out again.
So please, dear readers, go join the peaceful protests this weekend.
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Except you, Mayor Whitmire. We want you to keep doing what you do best. Reach across the aisle. Show Republicans why these policies are harmful. Add new voices to the calls for accountability and justice — voices that will resonate in Austin and Washington. Bring the conversations we know are happening behind closed doors out into the public light. Now is the time to be bold.
Houstonians’ lives depend on it.