A federal judge has temporarily blocked the deportation of Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, who was in the vehicle when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston on July 7. U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison issued an order preventing Pliego from being deported or moved out of the Southern District of Texas while his case is under judicial review.
Pliego, who has no criminal record, was a passenger in the van with Salgado Araujo when the shooting occurred during a traffic stop. ICE stated that Salgado Araujo, who was allegedly undocumented, did not comply with verbal commands and used his vehicle to attempt to run over an officer, prompting the officer to fire in self-defense. Local officials have indicated that Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who had resided and worked in the U.S. for 35 years, was not the intended target of the ICE operation.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, and no charges have been filed. Attorney Raed Gonzalez filed petitions for the release of Pliego and another witness, Daniel Tirado Pantoja, both of whom were detained by federal agents following the incident. A separate attorney has submitted a similar petition for Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, the brother of the man who was killed.
According to court filings, Pliego, who is undocumented, has lived in the U.S. since 1998 and is in a common-law marriage with a U.S. citizen. He has three children and four stepchildren, all U.S. citizens. Pantoja has been in the country since 1996 and has a son and stepdaughter who are U.S. citizens; he also lacks a criminal record. Both Pliego and Pantoja are being held at the Montgomery ICE Processing Center in Conroe, Texas.
Salgado Araujo's death has prompted peaceful protests and calls from some Texas Democrats for ICE to reduce its immigration enforcement activities. An image from a video shows the scene of the fatal ICE shooting in Houston on July 7, 2026. Law enforcement officials were also present at the scene. On July 9, 2026, a person placed flowers at the site where Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed in Houston, Texas.