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Pressure continues mounting over the fatal ICE shooting of Houston construction worker Lorenzo Salgado Araujo as two key witnesses ask a federal judge to release them from immigration detention.
The Houston Chronicle first reported that Daniel Tirado Pantoja and Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, who were passengers in Salgado's work van, filed petitions in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas seeking release from immigration detention. The men argue they are being held unlawfully while serving as key witnesses in the ongoing investigation. If granted, the petitions could lead to their release from an ICE detention facility in Montgomery County.
Tirado and Rojas argued in their filings Monday that they are being subjected to indefinite detention in violation of their Fifth Amendment due process rights despite having no criminal records and posing neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community.
"Petitioner is neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community," immigration attorney Raed Gonzalez, who represents both men, wrote in the petitions per the Chronicle.
The filings describe the men's detention as "exceptional," arguing they survived the same encounter in which Salgado was killed and now remain in ICE custody while also serving as material witnesses in the case.
Court records obtained by the Chronicle also show both men have applied for U visas, a temporary immigration benefit available to certain crime victims who assist law enforcement. According to the filings, the Harris County District Attorney's Office is the certifying agency for those applications, and both men voluntarily provided statements about the shooting.
The filings further state that paperwork associated with the visa applications identifies the shooting as a potential case of murder, manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide under investigation by the District Attorney's Office.
Both men have also disputed the Department of Homeland Security's account of the shooting, where they said Salgado "weaponized" his work van. Tirado wrote in a court statement that Salgado had already put the van in park when agents opened fire, while Rojas said the agents were positioned alongside the vehicle-not in front of it-when the fatal shot was fired.
Federal officials have only confirmed that an ICE agent fired the shot that mortally wounded Salgado. However, they have not released a detailed timeline of the pursuit, disclosed how many shots were fired or identified the agents involved.
The Texas Rangers have also been asked to conduct an independent investigation after Harris County DA Sean Teare and Houston Mayor John Whitmire expressed frustration over what they described as a lack of federal cooperation in the case.
"We have yet to be in contact with the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, who is apparently conducting the shooting investigation," Teare said. "We have not heard anything about the identity of the agent that shot Mr. Salgado. And, quite frankly, we haven't even heard whether or not the person has given a statement to any law enforcement about the shooting. And we're nine days in. That's just -- it's so grossly incompetent and unacceptable."
No hearings have been scheduled on the petitions, per the Houston Chronicle.
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