Federal judge orders ICE to release key witness in Houston shooting

A federal judge in Houston ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to free a key witness in the July 7 shooting of a Mexican homebuilder by an ICE officer. Judge Keith Ellison directed that Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego be released from ICE custody within 48 hours, ruling that his continued detention violated his Fifth Amendment due-process rights. The order requires ICE to release him in a public place in the Southern District of Texas, give his attorney at least three hours’ notice, and return all personal documents, including his driver’s license and passport.

Rojas Pliego was a passenger in a van driven by Lorenzo Araujo Salgado when the officer fired during a traffic stop. All three occupants of the van were taken into ICE custody. The Department of Homeland Security initially claimed Salgado had attempted to run over the officer, but Rojas Pliego and another passenger later testified that the officers were positioned to the sides of the vehicle, not in front or behind it. Rojas Pliego described the government’s account as "a lie."

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said his office is "more than prepared" to prosecute federal immigration agents if evidence of criminal wrongdoing emerges. Araujo Salgado, a 52-year-old father of three who had lived in the United States for 35 years and was close to obtaining legal status, had no known criminal record. His death is among at least ten fatalities linked to immigration enforcement actions since the start of the previous administration’s deportation policies, prompting protests and calls for an independent investigation.

Rojas Pliego, who entered the United States decades ago without legal status, has a pending U-Visa application that would grant him a four-year work permit, protection from deportation and a pathway to a green card. The judge also ordered that any future detention of Rojas Pliego must be preceded by notice and a pre-detention hearing.