Sons, mothers of people killed by ICE agents demand answers: ‘We still have so many questions
asserted
We → kill → questions
-
Click here to listen to this article -
- The families of five people killed by federal immigration agents testified before members of Congress.
-
asserted
families → click → Congress
They called for independent investigations and accountability
-
asserted
They → call → investigations
The Democratic-led forum also underscored the growing political stakes of the immigration crackdown as the midterm election approaches.
asserted
election → lead → crackdown
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s wife used to spend her evenings cooking a big meal for her husband and waiting for him to return home from his job as a homebuilder.
asserted
him → use → homebuilder
Now, his son told members of Congress, Salgado Araujo’s wife spends those evenings visiting her husband’s grave at the cemetery.
asserted
wife → tell → cemetery
In a packed Senate hearing room, a rapt audience of dozens listened to the sons of Salgado Araujo, the mothers of Ruben Ray Martinez and Renee Good, as well as the woman who video recorded the death of Alex Pretti and the lawyer for the family of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero.
Salgado Araujo, Martinez, Good, Pretti and Durán Guerrero were shot and killed by federal agents since the start of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants.
asserted
Araujo → listen → immigrants
“We still have so many questions,” said Lorenzo Salgado, one of Salgado Araujo’s sons.
asserted
Salgado → have → sons
“What are the names of the ICE agents who killed our dad?
asserted
who → kill → dad
Why do they get to be protected behind anonymity, while my brother and I stand before cameras, showing our faces, proudly saying our first and last name?”
asserted
brother → get → name
The forum on Tuesday was led by Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
asserted
forum → lead → Garcia
It was the fifth such event that the two lawmakers have hosted since December, forums aimed shedding light on what the lawmakers call the “lawless and abusive tactics” by immigration agents.
asserted
lawmakers → host → agents
The forums are not official hearings because they have been organized without Republican support.
asserted
they → organize → support
Nothing has changed since the first forum, the lawmakers said, accusing the Department of Homeland Security of failing to fully investigate the deaths and prevent further ones.
asserted
lawmakers → change → ones
A walking journey through south Minneapolis connects the memorials for George Floyd, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, revealing how grief, art and community resistance continue to shape a city marked by police and immigration enforcement violence.
Blumenthal noted that two days prior in Austin, Texas, another man was shot by ICE agents.
asserted
man → walk → agents
Garces Perez, a Venezuelan who was making a DoorDash delivery when ICE agents sideswiped his car, was seriously injured and placed in ICE custody with a bullet still lodged in his back.
asserted
bullet → make → back
Garcia said that, as of this month, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have verified more than 1,000 instances of abuse by immigration agents under this administration.
asserted
Democrats → say → administration
“Every community in America should be asking itself: How long will it be until ICE is in our city?” Blumenthal said.
asserted
Blumenthal → ask → city
“How long will it be until we have a grieving family, until another loss of life?”
asserted
we → have → life
Rachel Reyes sobbed as she recounted the moments leading up to the death of her son, Martinez.
asserted
she → sob → son
She said his death came nearly a year before Good’s and Pretti’s “yet far fewer people know his name” because the family was denied access to investigative reports and video evidence showing he had been shot by an immigration officer.
asserted
he → say → officer
“Its deeply distressing to know that Ruben’s final moments were consumed by confusion, fear, pain and disregard for his life,” she said.
asserted
she → know → life
“Though the circumstances surrounding his death and these other victims are distinctly different, the pattern is the same: lives cut short by the same agency, agents without body cameras, no warnings, no attempt to deescalate, excessive force followed by deflection, and a lack of accountability after the fact.”
asserted
pattern → surround → fact
Donna Ganger, the mother of Good, said her daughter should still be alive.
asserted
daughter → say → Good
Ganger described herself as a Republican and a Christian.
asserted
Ganger → describe → Republican
While Jesus teaches forgiveness, she said, she deserves accountability too.
asserted
she → teach → accountability
“I voted for President Trump under the impression that these agents were here to protect the citizens of the United States,” she said.
asserted
she → vote → States
“This is madness,” Ganger added.
asserted
Ganger → add → ?
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded a man on Sunday afternoon in the Texas capital of Austin, local officials said.
asserted
officials → shoot → Austin
Stella Carlson said that when she saw Pretti, she decided to become “his backup.”
asserted
she → say → Pretti
Instead, she watched him die, and then watched the agents who shot him flee.
asserted
who → watch → him
Two masked agents returned “and began to manipulate his dead body, ripping open his clothes as if to provide aid, but instead moving him around like a rag doll.”
asserted
agents → return → doll
Later, Carlson said she witnessed top government officials lie about Pretti, calling him a domestic terrorist who wanted to “massacre law enforcement.”
asserted
who → say → enforcement
“I am just a regular person, but I care deeply about my community, my state and my country,” she said.
asserted
she → care → community
“I believe there is power in ordinary people speaking the truth.”
asserted
people → believe → truth
Good and Pretti were killed within weeks of each other in January during a period of increased immigration enforcement in Minneapolis.
asserted
Good → kill → Minneapolis
Sean Murphy, who represents the family of Durán Guerrero, said he and Durán Guerrero’s widow recently attended a meeting with representatives of from the Maine Attorney General’s Office to retrieve some of his property that isn’t considered evidence.
asserted
that → represent → property
One item that wasn’t returned was his 3-year-old daughter’s car seat, which had been pierced by a bullet.
asserted
which → return → bullet
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) asked each speaker what they think justice would look like.
asserted
justice → ask → speaker
Reyes said an independent investigation.
asserted
Reyes → say → investigation
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
