Houston Public Media/Melissa Enaje
JoAnne Gonzales, president of the new Fort Bend County LULAC chapter, spoke to new members, local elected officials and candidates, about the fatal ICE shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant, at their inaugural meeting in Sugar Land on Wednesday.
Organizers with Fort Bend County’s new chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, said the fatal ICE shooting of a Mexican immigrant in neighboring Harris County accelerated plans to establish the chapter, which is launching with a focus on advocacy and educational scholarships for Hispanic students.
“We’re having to take action, be active, because this event has forced us to be active,” LULAC Communications Director Chris Fernandez said. “And yes, it’s bittersweet. I feel that it’s something that’s big enough that it affects everyone.”
Fernandez said the new chapter of the nationwide Latino civil rights organization, Greater Fort Bend Area LULAC Council 22571, is organizing a public vigil for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in August. The 52-year-old father of three was shot and killed by an officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on July 7 in Houston. He had been living in the United States for decades without legal immigration status, according to his family. The ICE agents involved were not wearing body cameras, and the passengers in Salgado Araujo’s van at the time he was shot have disputed the federal agency’s claims that he tried to run over the officers.
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JoAnne Gonzales, the president of the new LULAC chapter, made statements on behalf of the chapter and its demands from ICE early in Wednesday’s meeting.
“These demands center on use-of-force incidents,” Gonzales said, “all the lethal shootings that have occurred and demands for evidence transparency, full transparency and a halt to further funding [ICE] until systemic reforms and constitutional compliances are met.”
While founding members, including elected officials and candidates from both political parties, attended the inaugural meeting at a Sugar Land Mexican restaurant on Wednesday, much of the discussion centered on expanding college opportunities and scholarships for the county’s growing Hispanic student population.
Leaders with the newly formed LULAC chapter said they want to advocate for the community and focus on education and civic engagement as the county’s Hispanic population continues to grow. Hispanics make up one-fourth of the growing population in the suburban county outside Houston, and that demographic is trending upward, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Organizers say one of the chapter’s first priorities is helping Hispanic students pursue higher education through scholarships.
Sandy Ibanez is the Democratic candidate for Texas House District 28 who is running against incumbent Republican state Rep. Gary Gates in November. The district covers a large portion of the western side of Fort Bend County, including Fulshear, Needville and Rosenberg. Ibanez shared a presentation on Wednesday discussing what she called “some of the biggest” issues for the county’s large Hispanic student population.
“Only one in five Latino students, Hispanic students are in college right now,” she said. “That’s still not close to our other counterparts, so definitely beefing up the amount of Hispanic students that go to college is a huge goal.”
The chapter members stayed hours past the adjourned meeting.
“Having LULAC part of Fort Bend County is really important because not only does it bring Hispanic people together, but just like we saw today, it brings people from all backgrounds, all cultural backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds and political backgrounds,” Ibanez said. “Today we had Democrats and Republicans alike attend the meeting, so it was really nice to see that cohesion-ness and family-ness if you will, given the state of our country.”