A United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot a Mexican man in Houston, Texas, Tuesday morning during an attempted immigration arrest.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the officers tried to stop a vehicle around 6:50 a.m. as part of a targeted operation to arrest Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, whom the agency identified as an illegal alien from Mexico. The driver refused to comply, DHS said.

“From information we are receiving, he rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense,” the agency said. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ICE Arrests Australian National Charged With Voting In Multiple Federal Elections)

Salgado Araujo was rushed to a hospital, where he died, DHS said. The department’s inspector general opened a review of the shooting, and FBI Houston began investigating the reported assault on a federal officer. Authorities have not identified the agent who fired, the Texas Tribune reported.

On July 7, 2026, at approximately 6:50 AM CT, ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop as part of a targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien. The driver of the vehicle, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo—an illegal alien from Mexico—attempted to evade arrest.… https://t.co/2TWG3GuOr9

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 7, 2026

The Houston Fire Department found the man with a gunshot wound to his abdomen, the Texas Tribune reported. The shooting took place in the city’s East End, according to Houston Public Media.

His son, Ronaldo Salgado, pushed back on the government’s version in a Facebook post. He said his father was a longtime construction worker headed to a job site that morning.

“My father has been in this country for nearly 35 years, working in construction to provide for myself, my two brothers, and my mother,” he wrote. “He was in the process of obtaining his work permit through the legal process. He was on his way to work, picking up his workers. My father did not deserve this.”

Democratic Texas Rep. Sylvia Garcia, whose district covers the neighborhood, demanded an independent inquiry. “ICE has released an initial account, but the facts must be independently and thoroughly investigated, including the circumstances that led to the use of deadly force,” Garcia said in a statement reported by NBC News.

The Houston case came days after a similar confrontation in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. ICE said Clemente Lara-Hernandez, a Mexican national with a record that includes assault and hit-and-run, rammed a federal vehicle and fled July 1 as an officer opened fire, CBS 21 reported. He remains at large.