Judge orders ICE to release second witness to fatal Texas shooting

A federal judge in Houston ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities on Monday to release a witness to last month’s fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in the Texas city by agency officers.

U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett granted Daniel Tirado Pantoja’s petition for writ of habeas, ordering ICE to release the man from Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, where the agency has held him since the shooting.

Bennett, an appointee of former President Obama, wrote the continued detention of Tirado Pantoja, who is not a citizen of the U.S., would violate his right to procedural due process.

“After reviewing the authorities and the record, the Court determines release is the appropriate habeas relief for the unlawful detention in this case,” Bennett wrote in a three-page order , noting that Tirado Pantoja “has no criminal history, is not a flight risk, and does not otherwise pose a danger to the community.”

Bennett’s Monday order required ICE authorities to release Tirado Pantoja within 48 hours and provide a report on his status within 72 hours. The Hill has reached out to ICE and the Homeland Security Department for comment.

Tirado Pantoja, a Mexican citizen, was one of three passengers in a van Salgado Araujo was driving when ICE officers started to follow them on the road. An officer later fatally shot Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father of three U.S. citizens whose family said was close to obtaining legal status.

Salgado Araujo owned a construction business and had lived in the Houston area for 35 years, per his family.

Federal officials have said Salgado Araujo was weaponizing his car against ICE officers before one officer shot him in self-defense. But passengers in the 52-year-old’s car and his family have disputed that account , saying ICE officers in unmarked vehicles trailed then surrounded them on the driver and passenger sides.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), who represents parts of Houston, also said last month Salgado Araujo was not the target of the operation — citing a conversation she had with acting ICE Director David Venturella.

Last month, a different federal judge in Houston ordered ICE officials to release José Trinidad Rojas Pliego, another passenger in Salgado Araujo’s van. Victor Salgado, the brother of Salgado Araujo, was also in the van and remains in ICE detention.

Bennett wrote that ICE must release Tirado Pantoja in a public place and inform either his counsel or a friend of the time and location of his release three hours beforehand.

Under Bennett’s order, ICE authorities have to also return any identification documents they took from Tirado Pantoja during his detention.

If the federal immigration agency seeks to detain Tirado Pantoja again, the agency must demonstrate before an immigration judge there is “clear and convincing evidence” the man is a flight risk or a danger to the community, Bennett’s order notes.