'Squad' member calls DHS 'greatest threat to our safety' after ICE-involved shooting
Rep. Delia Ramirez called DHS the "greatest threat to our safety" after an ICE officer fatally shot an illegal alien during a Houston operation.
One leftist lawmaker is ramping up her attacks on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after an immigration officer fatally shot an illegal alien during an enforcement operation in Houston on Tuesday.
Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., declared DHS the "greatest threat to our safety" in a social media post, arguing that Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who allegedly resisted arrest during an attempted traffic stop, was the agency’s latest victim.
DHS said Salgado Araujo was shot in self-defense after he allegedly attempted to run over a federal agent with his vehicle, prompting the officer to open fire.
"The greatest threat to our safety is DHS," Ramirez, a Chicago-based lawmaker who has called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), wrote Tuesday. "CBP and ICE continue to violently attack our neighbors and trample the rights of our residents."
ICE SAYS OFFICER SHOT AND KILLED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WHO TRIED TO RAM HIM WITH CAR IN HOUSTON
Democrats have recently taken a hard line against DHS — a sprawling agency that oversees everything from the Secret Service to the Coast Guard and TSA — over its immigration enforcement and border security functions.
Top Democrats refused to fund the department earlier this year following the Trump administration’s controversial Minneapolis immigration enforcement surge that led to the killing of two Americans by federal officers.
The party's hardball tactics led to the longest partial government shutdown in history and later prompted Republicans to pass a second "big beautiful bill" that funded ICE and CBP for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term.
Ramirez did not mention DHS’ statement that Salgado Araujo allegedly evaded arrest while federal authorities attempted to pull him over or that he was not authorized to be in the country.
"From information we are receiving, he rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer, resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense," DHS wrote in a statement.
"The driver was struck, and emergency services were immediately contacted," the department continued. "The driver was transported to the hospital where he passed away from his injuries."
A spokesperson for Ramirez did not immediately respond to a request for comment on DHS’s account.
DHS said the department’s Office of Inspector General is probing the shooting. The FBI’s Houston Office launched a separate investigation into the "potential assault" of the ICE officer, according to DHS’ statement.
Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, who represents the Magnolia Park neighborhood where Salgado Araujo was shot, issued a more measured statement.
"ICE has released an initial account, but the facts must be independently and thoroughly investigated, including the circumstances that led to the use of deadly force," Garcia wrote on social media. "All available footage, communications, and other evidence should be preserved and reviewed as part of a full and impartial investigation."
Ramirez, who is associated with the far-left cohort known as the "Squad," also called on the Republican-controlled House to pass her Melt ICE Act, which would effectively defund the agency while laying out a timeline to shutter all immigration detention facilities and releasing detained illegal aliens.
The legislation is sponsored by fellow "Squad" members, Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Summer Lee, D-Pa., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. It has no clear path to passage amid widespread opposition from Republicans and likely from some Democrats.
Ramirez’s ICE abolition advocacy comes as she has not commented on a spate of illegal aliens with criminal backgrounds who were arrested in her home state of Illinois in June.
Federal agents recently arrested Venezuelan national Mercedes Moreno Occhipinti, who allegedly assisted in a 2024 mass shooting involving Tren de Aragua members at a house party in Chicago.
Last month, authorities also detained Noe Moreno-Salazar, an illegal alien from Mexico, in St. Charles, Ill. He was previously convicted of sexual abuse and aggravated unlawful use of a loaded weapon, among other offenses, according to DHS.
Ramirez also did not appear to comment on the March killing of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman by a Venezuelan illegal alien in Chicago — an incident that sparked outrage over the perpetrator's previous arrest.
Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment.
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