Federal judge bars deportation of witness in deadly Houston ICE shooting

HOUSTON - A federal judge has barred the deportation of one of the passengers who was in the van the day Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Houston.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ordered that Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego must remain in the Southern District of Texas while his habeas petition moves through court, according to the Associated Press. Rojas Pliego was one of three passengers inside the vehicle driven by 52-year-old Araujo when an officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot him near Canal Street in East Houston on July 7.

FOX 26 spoke with Houston immigration attorney Raed Gonzalez, who is representing Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego in federal court. Gonzalez said the habeas petition is not asking the court to decide Jose's immigration case. Instead, he says it asks a judge to determine whether Jose's continued detention is lawful.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed it will comply with the court order barring his deportation at this time.

Rojas Pliego had reportedly entered the U.S. decades ago and had not gained legal status, according to his stepdaughter, Griselda Silva.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office is helping all three passengers in applying for U visas. The Associated Press says these special visas are for witnesses assisting enforcement in active investigations. It remains unclear if federal authorities will grant the visas.

What the order means:

Gonzalez says his legal team routinely asks federal judges to prevent clients from being transferred or deported while habeas petitions are pending. He says if ICE moved Jose to another detention center outside of Texas, his attorneys could be formed to restart the case in another federal court. 

"We ask for the deportation to be stayed and also for the client not to be transferred. It's not unusual for the government... to move someone to another detention center in another state... This time the judge was kind enough to ask the government not to transfer him outside of Texas and also to stay the deportation until this case is decided."

Jose and Daniel's importance:

Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego and Daniel Tirado Pantoja were both in the car the day Lorenza Salgado Araujo died. 

The men remain in ICE custody after being detained on July 7 and have filed separate federal habeas petitions asking judges to determine whether their continued detention is lawful, according to attorney Raed Gonzalez. 

Judge Keith Ellison has ordered the federal government to respond in Jose’s case by July 24. The court also temporarily barred the government from deporting Jose or transferring him outside the Southern District of Texas while his petition remains pending.

No similar order had been entered in Daniel’s case as of Gonzalez’s interview with FOX 26. Gonzalez said the cases are moving at different speeds because federal courts are handling a growing number of detention challenges.

Witnesses Seek U Visas:

Jose and Daniel were two of the three passengers inside Salgado Araujo’s van when the shooting occurred.

Gonzalez said both men have applied for U visas, a form of immigration relief available to certain crime victims who assist law enforcement. He said the Harris County District Attorney’s Office certified that they are witnesses who are needed in the investigation and alleged victims because they were inside the van when the shot was fired.

The U-visa applications do not mean either man has already received legal status. Gonzalez said the application process can take years, but their attorneys argue the applications and their cooperation with investigators should protect them from deportation while their cases proceed.

US Attorney statement on ICE shooting

The other side:

In a statement, Aaron Reitz, the newly sworn US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said the ICE officers were initially looking for "two Guatemalan men known to be driving a white van." While looking for the suspects' van, ICE officers were told about a similar van in the area.

There was allegedly one other attempt to stop the van before the confrontation that led to the shooting death of Araujo.

During that initial attempt, Reitz says the ICE officers' two vehicles had police lights on while they tried to "pull over the van and the men that fit the suspects' description." The van allegedly did a U-turn and got on a median to get away, and the officers chose not to go after the van at that point.

According to Reitz, ICE officers found the same van later that morning. The driver, previously identified as Araujo, allegedly tried to flee again, but the agents had surrounded the vehicle.

Two of the four ICE officers involved reportedly got out of their vehicles and told the driver to put the van in park. According to Reitz, however, the driver "shifted the van into reverse, then forward again, while an officer was partially inside the van or immediately next to it."

During a confrontation between the officers and the people in the van, Reitz says one of the officers fired one shot, which struck Araujo. Other officers provided first aid, but Araujo was pronounced dead.

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