Passenger in fatal ICE shooting seeks release from detention
A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security not to deport a witness in the fatal shooting of a Mexican homebuilder by federal immigration officers during a traffic stop in Houston.
Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego was one of three passengers in a van driven by Lorenzo Araujo Salgado when Araujo Salgado was shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on July 7 while they were driving to work at a construction site, according to court records.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison wrote in an order Monday that Rojas Pliego must remain in the Southern District of Texas while his habeas corpus petition is pending. Rojas Pliego is challenging his detention, arguing that he is being held unconstitutionally in ICE custody.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said the agency “will comply with the court order.”
Araujo Salgado’s killing sparked protests and calls for an independent investigation. Within the following week, a federal immigration officer in Maine fatally shot a Colombian man, and a Mexican man in Florida died after being hit by a truck while fleeing immigration officers.