'Need to rein in this rogue agency': Baldwin demands independent probe into Salgado Araujo's death

The calls for an independent probe into Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's death keep mounting, with another prominent Democratic senator chiming in on Friday. "A father in Texas. A nurse from Wisconsin. A mother of three in Minnesota. All killed by Trump's ICE. Yes, we need an independent investigation into Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's death, but we also need to rein in this rogue agency that is killing Americans and terrorizing our communities," Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) wrote on X.

Baldwin's comments come in the wake of Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting down Salgado, who had been living in Houston for nearly three decades, during a stop despite his not being a target. The 52-year-old's death triggered widespread protests, with demonstrators calling for an independent inquiry into the incident, citing Salgado's lack of a criminal history. His case marks the eighth shooting during President Donald Trump's hardline immigration campaign, according to the Associated Press.

The officers stopped Salgado's vehicle because it appeared to be "a white van with an individual who resembled the target" of an operation. They then claimed that Salgado rammed into a vehicle and refused to follow several verbal commands before an agent fired his weapon in self-defense. He later died in the hospital from his wounds, as per the agency's official statement. Salgado's son, Ronaldo, argued that he was merely afraid when unmarked cars began following him.

In his press conference, he shared that his father, a construction worker, "should have been picking up the last of his guys before heading to North Houston to finish up construction on some houses," before he was stopped. "Unbeknownst to all of us, my dad had been shot inside his van by ICE agents in unmarked cars," he added, calling for an explanation from the agency. "I learned of my father's passing from a news report on social media, not the hospital, not law enforcement. He did not deserve to die."

Democrats, too, have had enough of ICE's impunity, joining calls to demand an impartial investigation. Rep. Jim McGovern went a step further, accusing Republicans of shying away from taking responsibility in a post on X. "We still have roving bands of unidentified masked agents in unmarked cars empowered by Trump to terrorize our communities," he wrote. "I recognized him immediately—not from his appearance, but from his voice crying for help as he lay on the street bleeding out," he added.

The incident has intensified scrutiny of the Trump administration's immigration policies, the implementation of which has involved bands of masked agents entering cities across the country to deport what officials call "illegal aliens." The heavy-handed approach has led to the deaths of American citizens, including Renée Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, who was fatally shot while protesting the agency's tactics.