Judge bars deportation of witness in fatal ICE shooting of Mexican homebuilder

A federal judge has barred the deportation of 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.

Araujo Salgado’s killing sparked protests and calls for an independent investigation. Within the next 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.

Rojas Pliego must remain in the Southern District of Texas while his habeas petition is pending, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison wrote in an order on Monday. Rojas Pliego says he is being held unconstitutionally in ICE custody, court records show.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said the agency “will comply with the court order."

Rojas Pliego had entered the U.S. decades ago and had not gained legal status, according to his stepdaughter, Griselda Silva.

Rojas Pliego and the two other passengers, also currently in ICE custody, have disputed DHS’ account of the shooting, according to their attorneys. DHS has said that Araujo Salgado was attempting to run over an ICE officer. A federal prosecutor in Texas has said that ICE officers were targeting two Guatemalan men who were potentially subject to deportation and driving a van similar to Araujo Salgado’s.

Araujo Salgado, a 52-year-old father of three, had been living in the country for 35 years and was close to obtaining legal status, according to his family, and has no known criminal record.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office has said it is helping Araujo Salgado's three passengers apply for a special visa, known as a U visa, for witnesses who are assisting law enforcement with an investigation. It remains unclear if U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, overseen by DHS, will grant visas for the three men.

One of the other men, Daniel Tirado Pantoja, also filed a habeas petition Monday, according to federal court records.

Araujo Salgado's brother, Victor Salgado, is scheduled to appear for an immigration hearing later this week, according to his attorney, Ruby Powers. She requested that his habeas petition, which has not yet been filed, remain sealed due to a threat of “retaliation or intimidation” to his family and friends, court records show.

The FBI executed a search warrant to investigate possible illicit substances in Araujo Salgado's vehicle and alleged that several small bags inside the van were filled with a white substance that appeared to be methamphetamine.

Victor Salgado's attorney said the white substance was a salt mixture that the men used as electrolytes to stay hydrated while doing manual labor in the grueling Texas heat.

Hugo Balderas-Ibarra, an attorney for Rojas Pliego and Tirado Pantoja, did not respond to a request for comment.

Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.