We are heartbroken and outraged by ICE killing another person this week, this time in Houston. This is the latest incident of murderous state violence by immigration enforcement in our communities.
On Tuesday, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old from Mexico, was shot and killed by an ICE agent while driving with his brother and two other co-workers. We are holding his family and community in the Light.
“He did not deserve to die,” Salgado Araujo’s son Ronaldo said at a press conference. “He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of ‘Mexican man shot and killed by ICE.’”
“He deserved to live a quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a husband, a father, and a job creator for dozens of men who also wanted the American dream.”
Salgado Araujo’s family, along with their congresswoman, Rep. Sylvia Garcia (TX-9), are demanding answers and calling for a full, independent investigation.
Accountability must not stop there. This horrific tragedy should never have happened. Congress has not reined in ICE’s lawless violence, abuses, and racist profiling in communities all across the country. This cannot continue. We need serious, meaningful accountability measures to keep our communities safe.
Salgado Araujo was the tenth person to be killed by immigration agents since the start of President Trump’s second term. Twenty-one others have died in ICE detention this year alone.
In January, the high-profile killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration agents sparked major protests in Minnesota and around the country. Yet despite the courageous outpouring of advocacy we saw this year, Congress passed another $70 billion in funding for ICE and Border Patrol last month without a single accountability measure included.
With an ongoing ICE surge, we must not allow these rogue immigration enforcement agencies to continue to terrorize our communities and carry out violence against our neighbors with impunity.
We must continue to demand that our lawmakers in Congress protect the rights, safety, and dignity of all.
Elsewhere
Violence between U.S. and Iran Continues
This week, the United States and Iran exchanged strikes on shipping and military bases. The renewed fighting comes amid technical disputes over what is covered in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which paused the conflict. President Trump said Wednesday that the MOU is now “over.”
As Sen. Chris Van Hollen (MD) said, “It’s time to stop this war permanently, not restart it.” In a positive development over the last day, negotiations between the two sides have resumed. Congress has already rebuked this conflict with a historic War Powers Resolution vote. Now they need to keep up the pressure for a permanent peace – we know War is not the Answer!
Quaker History of Activism Highlighted
Ahead of a protest scheduled for July 4th which our colleagues at American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) helped organize, ABC News wrote an article exploring the history of the Religious Society of Friends and Quakers’ rich tradition of working for justice and peace. It explores Quaker history from early gender egalitarianism to the abolitionist tradition.
We are proud to be part of such a long legacy of struggle for peace and justice. Until we reach the world we seek, we aren’t going to give up.
What Can Trump Do Around the Elections?
FCNL’s José Santos Moreno wrote this week about President Trump’s threats to send the military or armed federal agents to polling places. This would be a violation of the law and of our human dignity and rights to vote freely and without intimidation.
Thankfully, we have seen this administration be constrained by the will of the people before. We must oppose this threat to our democracy!
