ICE is killing immigrants and targeting critics as protests dwindle

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/7/9/800067156/justice/ice-is-killing-immigrants-and-targeting-critics-as-protests-dwindle/

ICE is killing immigrants and targeting critics as protests dwindle

by Alix Breeden

Staff

Thursday, July 9, 2026 at 9:30 AM EDT

4 Comments

Ronaldo Salgado and Lorenzo Jr., sons of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, hold a photograph of their father during a news conference Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Houston. — Ronaldo Salgado and Lorenzo Jr., sons of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, hold a photograph of their father during a news conference on July 8 in Houston. AP

The widespread protests against ongoing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detentions have diminished and the media has turned its fragmented attention elsewhere.

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But the terrorizing and dehumanization of immigrants in the United States has not quieted, even as the voices speaking out against it have.

On Tuesday, the cries of one family were heard across the country as they mourned the death of a husband and father at the hands of ICE.

A makeshift memorial for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed by an ICE officer Tuesday, is shown Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Houston. — A makeshift memorial for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed by an ICE officer Tuesday, is shown on July 8 in Houston. AP

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot dead by an ICE agent attempting to apprehend him in Houston. According to a statement obtained by the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security claims that Salgado attempted to ram an officer with his vehicle.

However, government officials have yet to substantiate this claim, which closely resembles the accusations made against Renee Good. The Minnesota mother was shot and killed by an ICE agent in January while observing ICE activity in her Minneapolis neighborhood. DHS officials falsely claimed that she was trying to run over the agent who shot her three times as she tried to drive away.

On Wednesday, Araujo’s family decried his senseless and violent death.

“I saw a video posted on Facebook that he had been shot,” said his oldest son Ronaldo at a press conference. “I recognized him immediately. Not from his appearance, but from his voice crying for help as he lay on the street bleeding out,” he said.

“He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of ‘Mexican man shot and killed by ICE,’” Ronaldo added as he wiped tears from his face. “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.”

But the heartbreaking stories don’t end with the Salgado family. On Monday, it was confirmed that an Afghan national who aided U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan for a decade died in ICE custody due to onsite negligence, just one day after he was detained on March 13.

Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, suffered “an adverse drug reaction” to an unidentified substance that triggered anaphylaxis and exacerbated his asthma, according to a document obtained by AP. He died at a Dallas hospital.

In ICE custody alone, 52 people have died since President Donald Trump began his second term with an anti-immigration agenda.

Afghan national Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, who died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 14, is pictured in this undated family photo after resettling in Richardson, Texas. AP

In 2025 and at the start of 2026, protests continued across the nation calling for justice and condemning the way Trump’s mass deportation agenda was being carried out.

While the Trump administration made meme-like videos and parody websites likening immigrants to “illegal aliens” straight out of the “X-Files,” musicians used their voices and celebrities donned “ICE OUT” pins at award shows.

Now, the administration is coming for those who spoke out—including U.S. citizens.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah C. Dugan was charged and convicted for obstructing federal agents attempting to arrest an immigrant at his court hearing last year. She was spared prison time, but was fined $5,000 for telling the man to exit via a side door once she learned agents were waiting outside her courtroom to detain him.

In New York, a man was visited at his home and in the middle of the night at a hotel where he and his daughter were sleeping because of an email he sent criticizing former ICE Director Todd Lyons. David Streever, as we’ve previously reported, is now suing the agency.

The government is also looking to social media for people to target and intimidate. ICE has been trying to obtain the identifying details of Reddit and X users who are critical of their tactics.

While officials ramp up efforts to root out and punish critics and protesters, DHS has also ramped up Trump’s deportation push.

Soon after the Supreme Court gave the administration the greenlightto end Temporary Protected Status for immigrants across the U.S., ICE agents detained more than 10,000 peopleIn a five-day period.

Daily Kos previously reported that the administration’s quota had been increased. And with the boost in funding provided by the Big Beautiful Bill, they have the budget to keep hiring agents and descending upon immigrant communities.

But the cold, hard truth is that when the “ICE OUT” pins are removed from haute couture red carpet wear and social media warriors turn their ire toward Trump’s latest failed ceasefire and World Cup corruption, the fear emanating from immigrants—and the scorn radiating from the armed federal agents hunting them—remains.

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#DHS #DonaldTrump #ICE #Immigration #LorenzoSalgado #Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal #ReneeGood

Conversation

All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. The views expressed in comments are those of the individual authors and don't necessarily reflect the views of Daily Kos.

All Comments

Comment by tegrat.
1 hr ago
We often see three vehicles and six agents being used to kidnap one person as they exit our jail into the public lobby, and even occasionally leaving empty handed. And yes, other raids are more people abducted, but still five or six vehicles and a platoon of agents. I have a hard time believing the 2000/day number (Miller's aspiration is 3000/day), I suspect that a good number of those abductions wind up as releases very quickly as many are US citizens as recently happened in our area (and the released person had to go to the hospital to have injuries sustained during the abduction treated). Please consider joining your local RR team if at all possible (and I get that it can be a real time sink), there are plenty of roles and many do not involve direct interaction with agents.
Comment by ericfreedom.
1 hr ago
What is the Democratic Party position about this?
Why don't I and every other American know?
Comment by Talmas.
1 hr ago
ICE comes to a new area w/ force and vengeance to inflict maximum pain on brown people. These fascists couldn’t care if they were American citizens, brown people are second class to this white nationalist government. THEN these fascists get the pushback! The community bands together and chases these fascists OUT! Then they saunter off to another area in America, Rinse and repeat!
Comment by Wintercat.
1 hr ago
ADD Americans unfortunately have the attention span of a fruit fly's lifespan.
"Why, that's an outrage, we should...uh...HAHAHA look what the Kardashians did now. Wait what was I saying? Never mind my favorite paid influencer has a new candle organizing and trust funded urban wandering video."
Like the headphones in Harrison Bergeron, but self-imposed.
Meanwhile, Albanians take to the streets nonstop to protest Javanka taking over their island.