Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare is filing paperwork to get visas for the three men in Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s work van the morning of July 7 when he was shot by an ICE agent.
The move is meant to prevent the men, who were witnesses to the incident, from being deported while Teare’s office investigates the fatal shooting that has drawn national attention to Houston, sparking protests and calls for justice.
“We certified their U Visa requests determining that they are all three material witnesses to this case,” Teare said. “That is one of the first steps in the process to force the federal government to keep them here for the pendency of this case.”
The U nonimmigrant status, or U visa, is reserved for victims of certain crimes whose accounts may be helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity, according to ICE’s description of the visa.
Certifying the men as material witnesses is a key component to getting them U Visa protection, Teare said. He said the measure extends beyond this case and it is performed hundreds of times a year in any serious, violent crime.
“Time was absolutely of the essence. To think that any agency would try to speed up the deportation of three material witnesses is really crazy in our normal way of being prosecutors, but that is what is happening,” Teare said.
The men are three eye witnesses to the shooting, Teare said, and their recollection is one of the most important pieces of the investigation.
In the same interview, he said his office is prepared and capable of charging ICE agents if criminal wrongdoing was found in shooting. Based on his law enforcement experience, he also questioned the procedures used for ICE stops on motor vehicles.
On Monday, Teare participated in a joint press conference with Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis where he said this case should be treated no differently than any other officer-involved shooting.
His office is conducting an independent investigation of the shooting and at the Monday press conference, Ellis said he would propose Harris County help fund the investigation. Hidalgo later said in a statement she was in favor of supporting the investigation.