[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 14, 2026)]
[House]
[Page H4414]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SHOOTING OF LORENZO SALGADO ARAUJO

  (Mr. Gomez of California was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. GOMEZ. Mr. Speaker, 13 months ago, when Trump's immigration raids 
began in my district, I warned exactly where this was headed. I warned 
that if ICE agents were allowed to operate without accountability, the 
violence would escalate. I warned that people would die.
  I didn't want to be right, but here we are. This isn't normal. This 
isn't law enforcement. This is lawlessness: no due process and no 
Miranda rights.
  Instead, some in Trump's ICE are acting as judge, jury, and 
executioner.
  This is what happens when people who wear the badge are told that 
rules don't apply to them. Over the last year, we witnessed ICE become 
more violent, more reckless, and more deadly. We witnessed masked 
agents jump out of unmarked vehicles. We witnessed people tackled, 
beaten, and shot. We have even seen children used as bait to detain 
their parents.
  What has this administration done? What have congressional 
Republicans done? Not a darn thing: no accountability, no transparency, 
and no consequences.
  Last week, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo left work and never came home. His 
son, Ronaldo, said something every Member of this Chamber should hear: 
``He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a 
headline of `Mexican man shot and killed by ICE.' He deserved to live a 
quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a husband, a father, and a job 
creator.''
  Then, yesterday, a little girl in Maine watched her father's lifeless 
body being carried away by ICE.
  Think about that, Mr. Speaker: two fathers and two families are 
shattered.
  In both cases, ICE wasn't even targeting the men who died. ICE claims 
these men used their vehicles as weapons, but local news video tells a 
different story. It shows unmarked vehicles following them. It shows 
what happens before the shootings. It shows that ICE wasn't wearing 
body cameras, despite its own policies.
  This administration is asking Americans not to believe our own eyes 
over and over again. That is not acceptable.
  What is even more unacceptable is that my Republican colleagues have 
watched this happen and responded by giving ICE billions more dollars.
  How many more families have to bury a loved one before Republicans 
admit that something is deeply wrong? The truth is they know it is 
wrong. They are just too afraid to say it. They are too afraid of 
Donald Trump and too afraid of political consequences.

  I know, and they know, where this leads. When these raids began in 
Los Angeles, I flew immediately back from Washington to conduct 
oversight and protect my communities. When the Trump administration 
tried to block me from inspecting ICE detention centers, I sued them 
and won.
  I have trained legal observers to document ICE abuses, organized 
townhalls, and introduced legislation to reclaim Trump's $175 billion 
ICE slush fund and put it into housing.
  Every Representative here has a choice. They can keep writing blank 
checks for fear and abuse, or they can join us in saying enough--enough 
lawlessness, enough brutality, and enough deaths. We warned this 
country what would happen. We warned that, without accountability, 
violence would escalate. We warned that people would die.
  Now, hear this warning: If you committed a crime, if you violated the 
Constitution, if you thought your badge put you above the law, you are 
wrong. We are watching. The American people are watching. History is 
watching. No matter who you are or the title you hold, you will be 
prosecuted.
  Accountability is coming.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their 
comments to the Chair.

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