HOUSTON \u2014 Mar\u00eda Guadalupe Garc\u00eda walked helplessly among the gravestones at Forest Park Lawndale, a funeral complex in Houston\u2019s East End neighborhood.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt can\u2019t be, they killed him without mercy,\u201d said Garc\u00eda, who had come to pay her last respects to Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the Mexican immigrant and father of three who was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents <\/a>during a traffic stop in Texas last week. <\/p>\n \u201cWe always greeted each other, he would ask about my family, and he was a hard-working man,\u201d said Garc\u00eda, 57, a resident of the East End neighborhood where Salgado Araujo lived. \u201cWe never saw him in a scandal, nothing like that. He raised his children and gave people jobs. What happened is a tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n Another neighborhood resident who asked to remain anonymous because of his immigration status pointed at the gravestones while saying: \u201cWe all end up here, buried, but Lorenzo had a lot of life ahead of him, it\u2019s not possible that the government shot him like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Garc\u00eda and hundreds of others attended Salgado Araujo\u2019s public wake Thursday, many wearing blue at the family\u2019s request to honor the immigrant worker. Volunteers from various nongovernmental organizations assisted with access and distributed water and refreshments. <\/p>\n The family prohibited the use of cameras and cellphones at the funeral to protect its privacy, and the ceremony took place amid a heavy police presence, with officers guarding the entrance to the building.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will always remember you and demand an investigation into your death,\u201d Edgar Morales, a University of Houston student who attended the funeral, wrote on a condolence card. \u201cWe are Hispanic, and now we are afraid that any of us could be killed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Remembering a life, and its details<\/p>\n Inside, in the grand chapel of the funeral home, ranchera and Mexican music could be heard. The iconic song \u201cAmor Eterno\u201d (Eternal Love) by the legendary Mexican singer Juan Gabriel played several times during the wake.<\/p>\n On a table sat a white safety helmet, a toolbox and several jerseys of El Tri, the Mexican national soccer team. Family and friends sat on long benches, some sobbing as screens displayed photos of Salgado Araujo.<\/p>\n \u201cMy family wishes to express its deep gratitude for the incredible and unprecedented support we have received,\u201d Ronaldo Salgado, his son, said in a Facebook post.<\/a><\/p>\n Standing in front of the open coffin where Salgado Araujo\u2019s bronze profile gazed toward the sky, were Ronaldo Salgado, 29, and his brother, Lorenzo Salgado, 27, who were greeting the visitors.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was definitely very shocking to see,\u201d said C\u00e9sar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL, an immigrant rights advocacy organization. \u201cBut although it\u2019s very painful, I think it\u2019s also necessary to see it so that we can internalize what\u2019s happening in the United States. So that we take this very seriously, because these are realities we suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n Espinosa said that FIEL and more than 30 organizations dedicated to immigration issues and workers\u2019 rights are calling for a large march to be held in Houston on Sunday afternoon \u201cso that the case of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo continues to resonate and that his name is not forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n Salgado Araujo, 52, worked in construction and led a crew, and was in a van with three other people on the morning of July 7 in the Magnolia Park neighborhood in Houston.<\/p>\n He was on his way to work at a construction site in the city when ICE agents stopped his vehicle. Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the immigration agents, <\/a>according to the Department of Homeland Security. However, the agents attempted to arrest him and shot him in the abdomen, killing him. <\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security has said Salgado Araujo was in the country illegally and attempted to run over agents, who shot in self-defense, but has not provided evidence of its claims.<\/p>\n A search of the van Salgado was driving<\/p>\n The FBI requested a search warrant for the van Salgado Araujo was driving, stating that an agent had seen small bags with a white substance that he believed could contain drugs. The Salgado Araujo family\u2019s lawyer said that the substance was salt<\/a>, which outdoor workers mix with lemon and water to combat the Texas heat.<\/p>\n The FBI declined to comment on whether the agency had executed the search warrant or whether any of the seized items had tested positive for illegal drugs.<\/p>\n \u201cA search warrant does not equal guilt,\u201d said attorney Ruby L. Powers, representing the brother of Salgado Araujo, who was arrested, along with the two other men in the van, after the shooting. \u201cAn unidentified substance is not a confirmed narcotic.\u201d <\/p>\n Powers indicated that she was requesting immediate analysis of the substance \u201cto clear their names\u201d and demanded the release of Salgado Araujo\u2019s brother, who remains in ICE custody.<\/p>\n The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas said in a statement Thursday evening that \u201cofficers saw in plain view several small bags of a white, crystal-like substance inside the van.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result, just yesterday the FBI executed a search warrant on the van in connection with possible narcotics trafficking and drug offenses,\u201d Aaron Reitz said in the statement.<\/p>\n Houston\u2019s chief prosecutor Sean Teare and a group representing the deceased\u2019s family have criticized the unusual move by the FBI, arguing that they do not believe there were drugs in the vehicle and that the search warrant does not alter the facts of the fatal shooting.<\/p>\n Salgado Araujo, 52, who had no criminal record, had lived in the United States for 35 years.<\/p>\n Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, a staunch supporter of Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown, said Wednesday that the state\u2019s top law enforcement unit would investigate the fatal shooting.<\/p>\n![\"Lorenzo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260708-lorenzo-salgado-araujo-ew-1237p-8f802c.jpg\")
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.LULAC Institute via GoFundMe<\/p>\n![\"Ronaldo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260717-Lorenzo-Salgado-Araujo-wake-ew-219p-9659e9.jpg\")
Ronaldo Salgado, son of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed by an ICE officer last week, is hugged outside a public visitation for this father on Thursday in Houston.David J. Phillip \/ AP<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260716-Lorenzo-vigil-ac-1113-209072.jpg\")
People embrace as they pay their respects to Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a candlelight vigil on July 8 in Houston, Texas.Brandon Bell \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n