Demonstrators march through downtown Houston toward the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center during a protest following the shooting death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
The brother of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo has been ordered to appear before an immigration judge where he will likely be placed in removal proceedings to deport him to Mexico, his attorney told the Houston Chronicle Monday.
Victor Salgado has been detained at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe since Tuesday, the day an ICE agent fatally wounded his brother during what was initially called a “targeted enforcement” operation, but has since been confirmed as a case of mistaken identity.
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Houston immigration attorney Ruby Powers said Victor Salgado’s hearing will be in the next few weeks. Powers spoke with Salgado on Saturday at the detention center.
Immigrants in federal custody generally receive a court order, officially called a notice to appear, once they are detained, Powers said. Her client’s case, however, is not a run-of-the-mill deportation matter.
Salgado and two other passengers in the van — Jose Trinidad Rojas and Daniel Tirado Pantoja — are considered key witnesses as local and federal authorities investigate whether deadly force was justified when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents confronted the construction workers.
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“There are normal circumstances, and then there’s what’s going on here,” she said. “In this situation, we are pursuing all possibilities that we can imagine to have a release as soon as possible.”
READ MORE: Harris County DA Sean Teare gives new details on investigation into Houston ICE shooting
The timeline for a final decision to deport Salgado is unclear.
Department of Homeland Security officials said Lorenzo Salgado “weaponized” his van when ICE agents attempted to pull him over. But Victor Salgado and Tirado told U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, that the agents were not standing in the path of the van, and that agents never identified themselves after exiting unmarked vehicles.
“It’s just shockingly, a totally different story,” Garcia said outside the ICE processing center after she visited Salgado and Rojas Saturday.
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A memorial for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican citizen who was shot and killed in Houston’s Magnolia Park, sits on Canal Street on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.
Jacob Lujan/Houston Chronicle
Powers said that under normal circumstances, preparing for an immigration hearing is a labor-intensive endeavor. But Salgado’s situation as a witness presents a bigger challenge, in part because he is being detained.
“I had to print off photos that I found from the crime scene to be able to show him while I was (visiting him) in detention,” she said. “This is unheard of if you are a key witness.”
Powers said her office is considering a host of options to have her client released, including asking ICE to parole Salgado, and filing a habeas corpus petition in federal court.
READ MORE: Sylvia Garcia visits detained witnesses who dispute ICE’s account of deadly Houston shooting
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“I want to be an optimist at heart and think that there might be a way for us to get a release before (the hearing),” she said. “These individuals are witnesses, and so they’re having to focus simultaneously on trying to be available as witnesses for various investigations, and at the same time care about their livelihood in the United States.
“That doesn’t leave much time to grieve or to process,” she added.