In a letter this week to acting ICE director David Venturella, the three Texas members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus questioned ICE’s claims that Salgado, a Mexican national who’d been living in Houston for 35 years, was trying to ram ICE agents with his van.
“Mr. Salgado Araujo’s family and the public deserve nothing less than a complete investigation of his killing and the aftermath, including an accounting of wrongdoing by federal officials,” they wrote, adding, “the pattern of lies to cover up DHS misconduct is well documented.”
The letter follows efforts by Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia to bring attention to the shooting, including visiting an ICE detention center to meet with three migrant workers who had been in the van with Salgado at the time of shooting.
In their letter, Casar, Crockett and Menefee asked ICE to release to the public body or dash cam footage from “any federal and state officers present at the scene” as well as recording of “radio, text, or phone communication between officers immediately before and after the shooting.”
They also asked ICE to preserve witness statements and forensic evidence and share it with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, including communications among top ICE officials about the shooting.