Moulton, House Democrats Demand Independent Investigations into Fatal ICE Shootings of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Johan Sebastian Guerrero

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06) joined nearly 200 House Democrats in sending a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director David Venturella demanding independent investigations into the recent fatal ICE shootings of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastian Guerrero.

In the letter, the lawmakers explicitly request that DHS commit to five actions to ensure accountability and transparency:

1. Will you commit to allowing all noncitizen witnesses to remain in the United States for the duration of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), DHS Office of Inspecter General (OIG) and any state or local investigations into both of these deaths, so they may provide eyewitness testimony to investigators?
2. Will you commit to not interfering with any ongoing investigations, and to ensuring truly independent investigations into both of these cases, as well as completing investigations into the other ICE-related shootings that have occurred?
3. Will you commit to ensuring that all investigators, including those from the FBI, OIG, and any state and local offices have access to all witnesses and evidence related to both of these deaths?
4. Given the enormous amount of funding provided to ICE and CBP both last year and this year, will you commit to immediately providing body cameras to all ICE and CBP agents and ensuring that footage is made available in any ongoing investigations, including any footage of all victims of DHS-related fatal shootings?
5. Please provide a detailed breakdown, including providing copies of all training materials, on how much and what kind of training your officers undergo, as it relates to vehicle stops including when or how discharging weapons into vehicles is or is not permissible.

The lawmakers' urgent demands follow the July 7th killing of Mr. Salgado Araujo in Texas and the July 13th killing of Mr. Guerrero in Maine. Neither individual was the intended target of the ICE operations.

"When law enforcement operations result in the tragic loss of human life-especially involving individuals who were not the targets of the operation-there must be absolute transparency and accountability" said Congressman Seth Moulton. "The families of Mr. Salgado Araujo and Mr. Guerrero deserve answers, not shifting narratives. We need an independent investigation to uncover the truth and reevaluate the protocols that allowed these devastating incidents to occur."

The full text of the letter to DHS Secretary Mullin and ICE Acting Director Venturella can be read here.