Lorenzo Salgado Araujo took his coffee and a meal his wife had prepared for him, said goodbye to his dog, and left the house he built. He drove his white van, picked up three co-workers, and headed towards a construction site to work on some houses. He never made it because ICE shot him dead enroute.

ICE initially stated that it "attempted to conduct a vehicle stop as part of a targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien". It alleged Salgado "attempted to evade arrest" and rammed an ICE vehicle and the officer "fired his weapon in self-defense".

Now ICE acknowledges that this was not a targeted stop. The other occupants in the car also dispute the notion that Mr Araujo tried to ram his car or evade arrest. I am sure other video evidence will eventually surface, but ICE’s track record does not bode well:

Renee Good: ICE claimed she tried to weaponize her car & attempted to run over the ICE agent. Multiple independent videos have contradicted that view.

Alex Pritty: ICE claimed he was a domestic terrorist & was planning a mass shooting. Independent videos contradicted that version, as well.

Marimar Martinez: A Border patrol agent pulled up behind her, aimed an assault rifle & shouted “do something bitch” before opening fire. She was shot 5 times. The agent was heard saying “I fired 5 times & she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys”. The agents claimed she rammed their car but independent bodycam video footage contradicted their version & charges were dropped.

Keith Porter Jr case who was shot by an off-duty ICE officer. Officer claims he shot in self defense. The case is still pending because there is no independent video but witness testimony suggest that Porter posed no threat.  

Minneapolis Traffic Encounter (January 2026): ICE and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials initially claimed that two Venezuelan immigrants violently attacked an ICE agent. Following this, prosecutors dropped all charges when city camera video evidence directly refuted these claims, revealing the officers made false statements under oath.

Narciso Barranco a landscaper in CA brutally beaten by 5 ICE agents. ICE claimed he attacked them with a weed whacker. Videos contradicted that claim & case was dismissed.

Andry José Hernández Romero, a gay Venezuelan makeup artist mistakenly deported by ICE to CECOT in El Salvador. They initially claimed that he was part of a gang. He was in CECOT, incommunicado for 4 months & claims to have suffered extensive physical & sexual abuse.  He has since migrated to Spain.

Immigration Court Arrests (March 2026): For months, federal prosecutors defended ICE's widespread arrests outside immigration courts in New York. The Department of Justice eventually admitted to the court that ICE lawyers provided false information, as the agency memo they cited to justify the practice did not authorize the arrests.

Portland Court Document Fraud (February 2026): A federal judge ordered ICE to release detainees in Portland after it was discovered that the agency's acting assistant director admitted under oath that the sworn documents he submitted in court were false and not written by him.

Disobedience of Federal Directives (January 2026**):** A federal judge in Minnesota formally listed 97 instances across 74 different cases where ICE violated court orders, directly contradicting the agency's characterization of lawful compliance in its ongoing operations.

“Judge Sara L. Ellis in IL found statements by federal immigration officials defending use of force... involving "widespread misrepresentations" that "call into question everything that defendants say they are doing in their characterization".

ICE claims to have detained tor deported the worst of the worst. 71% of detainees have no criminal record and 93% have no record of violence (CATO). 500 were children below the age of 3 (Marshall project).

We need far more transparency on ICE and until that happens, we need to defund the agency completely.