The builder got up every morning long before dawn, left home to pick up his construction crew and then headed out to work on yet another house somewhere across the sprawl of Houston.
Fourteen hours later, would return to the wife he鈥檇 met as a teenager in Mexico and the modest house he鈥檇 built for his family on the city鈥檚 east side.
It鈥檚 what he鈥檇 done for decades, according to Ronaldo Salgado, his oldest son. He said his father built hundreds of houses over 35 years, creating a life for his family and watching as his three sons headed off to college.
On Tuesday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Salgado Araujo, 52, after he was pursued by federal agents driving unmarked vehicles while he was taking his crew to their latest job site. The shooting and renewed public scrutiny over ICE and Trump’s immigration crackdown.
鈥淭his family needs answers. America needs answers,鈥� Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, whose district includes the area where the shooting happened, said Friday. 鈥淭his should not be happening in our streets or any street in this country.鈥�
Salgado Araujo was not the target of ICE’s operation
Federal agents when they tried to stop Salgado Araujo鈥檚 white van, Garcia said, citing a briefing she receiving from ICE’s acting director. The Department of Homeland Security has said an ICE officer fired at the van in self-defense after Salgado Araujo, who officials described as an 鈥渋llegal alien,鈥� rammed an ICE vehicle. They have provided no evidence.
The three men that Salgado Araujo was driving said he was shot through a passenger window and that the ICE officer who fired was not in front of the van or even in danger, a lawyer who has spoken with them said Friday.
His family has also disputed the account from ICE. They said lawyers, who were helping him apply for a work permit, had explained how he should behave if immigration agents stopped him. Salgado Araujo was close to obtaining legal status when he was killed, they said.
鈥淗e knew what to do,鈥� Ronaldo Salgado told reporters this week. 鈥淗e knew not to sign anything. He knew that the first phone call he should make should be either to myself or to my mom. So that way we can get the process started of getting him out.鈥�
He believes his father may have been scared that he was being followed by unmarked vehicles, worried someone was planning to steal his van or his tools.
The shooting in the heavily Hispanic neighborhood is during the Trump administration鈥檚 immigration enforcement campaign.
A kind, present husband and father
Salgado Araujo entered the U.S. more than 30 years ago, settling in Houston with his wife where they raised their three children.
Education was a constant focus in the house, said Ronaldo Salgado, who is now a teacher. One of his brothers is an engineer. The other is in college studying engineering.
Several childhood friends of Salgado recalled that his father was kind and softspoken, always inquiring about his wife鈥檚 day and how his sons鈥� friends were doing after a long day at work.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 really see him until the end of the day when he came home to have dinner, but that just shows how much of a hard worker he was,鈥� said neighbor Jessica Alanis Magdaleno. 鈥淓verything they have now is thanks to the dedication to that.鈥�
Josu茅 Flores, a friend of Ronaldo Salgado since their freshman year of high school, said he first saw Lorenzo Salgado Araujo at his son鈥檚 football game.
鈥淚 think it speaks volumes of the kind of person that he was,鈥� Flores said, recalling how Salgado Araujo showed up for his son even after an arduous day of work.
Salgado Araujo鈥檚 wife, a relative said, is 鈥渋nconsolable.鈥�
鈥淪he is very upset… angry, sad, disoriented,鈥� Jose Torres Ramon, a nephew who lives in Mexico, told The Associated Press in a Facebook message.
After coming home in the evening, Salgado Araujo liked to listen to music on the porch and pet the family dog. His family has described him as a simple man of routine.
鈥淗e did not deserve to die,鈥� Ronaldo Salgado said. 鈥淗e dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream.鈥�
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Associated Press reporters Jack Brook in New Orleans and Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed.
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