In Houston, Texas, a Mexican national was shot and killed on the 7th (local time) by a U.S. immigration officer. An immigrant who had helped U.S. forces in the war in Afghanistan also died in an accidental death after being arrested and detained by immigration authorities. As casualties mount during immigrant arrests and detentions, criticism of the Trump administration and its hard-line immigration policies is intensifying.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado died after being shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. DHS asserted that Salgado did not meet the legal requirements for stay, and that a firearm was used in self-defense because he allegedly tried to ram ICE officers with a vehicle. Salgado died after being taken to a hospital.

Ronaldo Salgado, Salgado's son, wrote on Facebook that his father “had worked construction to support the family” and “did not deserve this.” Juan Proao, head of the Latino American Citizens Alliance, told the New York Times (NYT) that Salgado had lived in the United States for 35 years and was the father of three children. Salgado was on his way to a construction site with two co-workers.

The number of casualties resulting from ICE officers using firearms during immigrant enforcement and arrests has been steadily rising. The Associated Press (AP) reported, “This incident is at least the eighth death to occur during an ICE arrest since the Trump administration launched its intensified immigration crackdown,” adding, “there have also been cases where the immigration agency’s initial account was later contradicted or refuted by video that was released.”

Controversy grew further after it became known that a migrant who had assisted U.S. forces in the Afghanistan war died in an accident while in ICE custody. AP reported that the cause of death for Mohammad Nazir Paktiaval, a 41-year-old Afghan who died in March after being detained by ICE, was determined four months later to be an accidental death caused by an allergic reaction. AP said this was the first accidental death among more than 50 in-custody deaths under ICE that have occurred during the second Trump administration.

Paktiaval was arrested at his Texas home by ICE officers on March 13 and died the following day. He had served alongside U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan for 10 years in the 2010s and entered the United States in 2021 through legal procedures following the U.S. withdrawal. He later worked at a bakery, among other places. ICE targeted him for removal on alleged fraud and theft charges, but NBC reported that he had not been convicted on either count. Shawn Vandiver, president of AfghanEvac, an organization that helps Afghans resettle in the United States, said, “This family has a right to know what happened.”

The Trump administration continues an aggressive crackdown on immigrants. AP said that over a five-day span late last month, ICE arrested more than 10,000 immigrants.

That night, citizens gathered at the scene where Salgado died to hold a vigil and protest, chanting, “No fear, no hate, no ICE, get out of our state.” The NYT reported that rally participant Jaynie Torres, 59, expressed concern, saying, “Anyone could end up like Salgado.” Representative Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat whose district includes the area, argued that “the explanations of the incident released by the federal government and immigration authorities require a more precise investigation, including fact-finding by an independent body.” Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, said he would ask DHS to release Paktiaval’s autopsy report and added, “It smells like a cover-up.”