A father shot by immigration agents

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a fifty-two-year-old husband and father, was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Houston on July seven. He had lived in the U.S. for decades without legal status but was obtaining a work permit.

The official story and what witnesses say

Authorities say Salgado Araujo used his white van to ram immigration agents in unmarked vehicles during a pursuit. Witnesses in the van contradict this account. He had no criminal record and was driving workers to a jobsite.

He was not the intended target

Authorities later admitted Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the operation. His eldest son, Ronaldo Salgado, delivered an emotional testimonial at a news conference that went viral, defending his father's character.

The son's account of his father

Ronaldo Salgado said his father was a hardworking family man who taught his children to comply with law enforcement. He stressed the ramming story could not be true and that his father had always instructed them to pull over, hand over documents, and act respectfully.

“He was a hardworking family man who never wanted his name to be known by anyone outside of his family.”

Federal officials search the van

Federal officials released an FBI search warrant showing they sought entry to Salgado Araujo's van to examine baggies with crystals they said resembled methamphetamine. The U.S. attorney's office later confirmed the mix was not methamphetamine.

What was actually in the baggies

The crystals were a homemade electrolyte mixture, mainly salt, that Salgado Araujo mixed into Gatorade for himself and workers to combat triple-digit Houston summer heat. Ronaldo Salgado said the implication was an effort to sully his father's reputation.

Community members mourn at a roadside memorial

Berta Lopez, a nearby resident, sang, recited prayers and cried at a roadside memorial for Salgado Araujo, a man she never met. She demanded the names of the officers who killed him be released and exposed to the public.

“Why don't they show the people who did the killing? Why don't they show them? Why don't they release the names of the people who killed Lorenzo?”

Fear settles over the Latino community

NBC News interviewed more than three dozen Houston area Latinos, elected officials, activists and political strategists. They described a distraught community feeling degraded by messages from Washington and terrorized by constant stories of those detained, many wrongly.

A moment that crystallized powerlessness

Most Latinos interviewed were better versed in details of Salgado Araujo's death than in names and backgrounds of candidates for high profile state offices. Many said his shooting crystallized their feelings of powerlessness and fear for their own families.

“That could have been my dad, my brother, my uncle, my son, or me.”

A Trump voter's regret

Albert Riseño, a plumber and three time Trump voter, expressed deep regret. He said he never thought it would happen the way it has and described a fear that has settled over the Latino community since Trump's second term began.

“I'm guilty as charged. I voted for Trump. But I never thought it was gonna happen the way that this happened.”

National polling shows Latino disapproval

An NBC News and Telemundo survey of eight hundred registered Latino voters nationally showed sixty nine percent disapproved of Trump's job as president. Fifty four percent said they intended their midterm vote to signal opposition to the president. The survey was carried out September twenty-one to twenty-eight.

Immigration enforcement seen as too aggressive

In the same survey, immigration and border security did not score high among priorities, with only six percent of Latino voters calling it a top issue. However, sixty seven percent said Trump's immigration enforcement had gone too far.

Texas Latinos shift away from Trump

In twenty twenty four, fifty five percent of Texas Latinos supported Trump according to exit polls. Recent surveys show statewide Democrats garnering at least fifty five percent of the Latino vote. This swing has made Texas Senate and gubernatorial races competitive.

Key races now in play

Texas Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton has become a battleground contest. Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, faces perhaps his toughest ever general election challenge from Democrat Gina Hinojosa.

Latino voter engagement surges

More Latino registered voters than ever, seventy two percent, rated their interest in the upcoming election as ten out of ten in the NBC News and Telemundo poll. Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia said low propensity voters now have great intensity to vote, specifically citing ICE enforcement.

“I'm voting for my mom. I'm voting for my dad.”

Abbott backs investigation but stays silent initially

Governor Abbott, who has long taken a hard line stance on immigration, was silent on the Salgado Araujo shooting for a week. He then backed an independent investigation and said immigration laws can be enforced without shooting people.

“Immigration laws can be enforced, and stopping illegal immigration from coming across our border can be achieved, without shooting people.”

Paxton softens tone on immigration

Republican state attorney general Ken Paxton, locked in a tight race with Talarico, met with the U.S. Hispanic Business Council and made supportive statements about an immigration program designed to help industries in need of workers. He previously boasted of blocking public money for legal representation for immigrants.

“As long as we are doing this by the rule of law, I'm open to having help.”

Ronaldo Salgado urges voters to act

Ronaldo Salgado stressed that the investigation should not be a partisan issue and urged those incensed by what they see to vote in November. He called on voters to elect candidates who honor and respect the lives and rights of immigrants.

“Every single elected official right now has immigrants living in their districts, in their states, their neighborhoods, and it's their job to protect them.”