‘Killed unjustly’: Phoenix advocates demand accountability in ICE killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo

Phoenix advocates hit city streets on Friday evening in honor of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the Texas man who was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on July 7 in Houston.

Organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) Phoenix, Valley residents and migrant rights activists met in front of the downtown ICE field office — also the site of a vigil held on Thursday night hosted by Puente Human Rights Movement. 

Salgado Araujo, a Mexican homebuilder who had lived in the U.S. for more than 35 years was driving a work van on July 7 when ICE agents tried to pull him over. According to the Department of Homeland Security, he matched the description of a person they were on route to detain. He was shot after the DHS said he rammed the van he was driving into an ICE vehicle.

Unlike the highly mediatic killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, there are no videos of Salgado Araujo’s death and, according to the DHS, immigration agents involved were not wearing body cameras. The family of Salgado Araujo has denounced ICE's account and called on the agency to release evidence, and is calling for an independent probe into the shooting.

As ICE raids continue throughout the U.S., and in Arizona especially, advocates gathered outside the agency’s field office off Central Avenue just north of McDowell Road and wrote messages in chalk on the sidewalk, displayed signs calling for the removal of ICE from Phoenix and demanded justice for victims of violence from law enforcement. Passing cars honked in support of the protestors. Representatives of local organizations, like VetsForward and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), were also present.

Hayden Nguyen, an organizer with PSL and the main speaker at the event, demanded action and justice for all people killed by ICE.

“Even though we may never have had the opportunity to meet them, we know them,” Nguyen said. “We know them because they are mothers and fathers who send their kids to public school just like us. We know them because they wake up in the same houses, the same neighborhoods as we do. We know them because they get up each morning, go to work, and build this country exactly like we do.”

In Arizona, street-level detentions — similar to the operation that led to Salgado Araujo’s death — have increased since Trump retook office. A joint CALÓ News and Arizona Luminaria analysis of ICE internal data found that the number increased from 63 people arrested by immigration authorities in street-level operations in January to 124 in February, reaching a peak of 421 non-custodial arrests in August 2025.  This represents a nearly seven-fold increase in just seven months.

Increased street-level operations have been witnessed across the country since last year.

“Houston is 1,000 miles away, [but] we all heard the call and we listened,” said Danielle, another organizer with PSL. “We saw that our brother miles away from us was in pain, was being killed unjustly, and we answered that call.”

Executive Director of VetsForward Ricardo Reyes said that injustice is often a shared experience for communities of color in the U.S.

“The struggles of our communities blend into each other,” he said. “We are all having the same fight over and over again. Our Black brothers and sisters came here through slavery. Our brown brothers and sisters were [already] here, and the border crossed us.”

Judith, also an organizer with Puente, used her speech to thank those who attended the previous night’s memorial and called for continued community action.

“How do we know [ICE] lies? Because we see it, because we show up, because we're videotaping, because we're using those videos to prove these people's innocence,” she said. “And if we stop showing up because the FBI and DHS is trying to intimidate us and make us scared, guess what? They control the narrative.”

Once the speakers finished, the crowd marched down Central Avenue to Roosevelt Street and back, pausing in front of busy storefronts to call for justice and demand action. Chants along the way included, “We want justice, you say how? ICE out of Phoenix now!,” “Power to the people, no one is illegal!” and “When immigrant rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” 

Phoenix police followed the peaceful march to manage oncoming traffic.

“It is not just a question of when this system will end. It's not just a question of if ICE agents will stop killing our neighbors. It's not just a question of when the president will change. It is a question of when we will stop it,” said Nguyen.

So far, DHS agents have shot and killed 11 people since January 2025, including Salgado Araujo and a 26-year-old man from Colombia, who agents shot and killed on Monday morning in Biddeford, Maine. 

The advocacy groups Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! said the man — whose family is not ready to release his identity — was authorized to work in the U.S. and had a Social Security number. After the shooting, his family contacted the Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, executive director Mufalo Chitam said. According to the DHS account, he was shot and killed in a similar manner as Salgado Araujo.

“We have to come together like we're doing now, but we have to keep doing it,” said Judith. “We can't let this moment pass and think next week, it's gonna be forgotten. We have to show up week after week, day after day, get involved, make the phone calls, come to the protest, do the marches [and] get involved with an organization.”

Meanwhile, Reyes urged residents to effect change by casting their ballot in this year’s election, both the midterm on July 21 and the general on Nov. 3.

“We really need to get our people out,” Reyes said. “These elections — these midterms — can make a huge difference.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

River Graziano is a freelance journalist for CALÓ News. They grew up in the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix and later attended ASU in Tempe, where they spent two years as an editor at The State Press. Their reporting with CALÓ News covers advocacy efforts impacting Latine communities across the Valley.