A federal judge has stepped in to prevent the deportation of a key witness in the fatal shooting of a Mexican construction worker by a U.S. immigration officer during a traffic stop in Houston.
Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego was among three passengers riding in a van operated by Lorenzo Araujo Salgado when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Araujo Salgado on July 7. The men were on their way to a construction job at the time of the shooting.
The killing of Araujo Salgado triggered public protests and demands for an independent investigation. In the days that followed, a federal immigration officer in Maine fatally shot a Colombian man, and a Mexican man in Florida died after being struck by a truck while fleeing from immigration officers.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison issued an order Monday requiring Rojas Pliego to remain within the Southern District of Texas while his habeas petition works its way through the courts. Court records show Rojas Pliego is arguing that his detention by ICE is unconstitutional.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has authority over ICE, stated that the agency “will comply with the court order.”
According to his stepdaughter, Griselda Silva, Rojas Pliego came to the United States decades ago and never obtained legal immigration status.
Attorneys for Rojas Pliego and the two other passengers — who are also being held by ICE — have disputed the government’s version of events. DHS has claimed that Araujo Salgado tried to run over an ICE officer with the van. A federal prosecutor in Texas has said that ICE officers were actually targeting two Guatemalan men who may have been subject to deportation and were believed to be driving a similar-looking van.
Araujo Salgado was a 52-year-old father of three who had lived in the United States for 35 years and had no known criminal record. His family said he was close to obtaining legal status at the time of his death.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has said it is helping the three passengers apply for a U visa — a special immigration status available to witnesses cooperating with law enforcement investigations. Whether U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, also under DHS oversight, will approve the visas remains uncertain.
A second passenger, Daniel Tirado Pantoja, also filed a habeas petition on Monday, according to federal court records.
Araujo Salgado’s brother, Victor Salgado, is scheduled for an immigration hearing later this week, according to his attorney, Ruby Powers. She asked that his habeas petition — which has not yet been filed — be kept under seal because of concerns about possible “retaliation or intimidation” against his family and friends, court records indicate.
The FBI executed a search warrant on Araujo Salgado’s vehicle and alleged that several small bags found inside appeared to contain methamphetamine.
Victor Salgado’s attorney countered that the white substance was actually a salt mixture the workers used as electrolytes to stay hydrated while performing physically demanding labor in the intense Texas heat.
An attorney representing both Rojas Pliego and Tirado Pantoja did not respond to a request for comment.
