ICE killings: AFL-CIO demands accountability

Representing nearly 15 million working people, the largest labor organization in the U.S. calls for accountability after ICE killings of immigrant workers in Texas, Maine

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 15, 2026) — In less than a week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have shot and killed two men, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine. Witnesses say Araujo was driving to work with his brother when ICE agents began trailing the vehicle, ultimately shooting him through the lowered passenger window of the car. Durán Guerrero, who was reportedly not the target of ICE activity, was shot and killed on the block he lived on. He was 25 years old.

News reports indicate ICE has been ordered to pause vehicle stops, although recent statements from the White House perhaps indicate otherwise. Either way, the violence and chaos of the federal administration’s dehumanizing approach to immigration enforcement goes far beyond the roads. At least 52 people have died in immigration detention between January 2025 and June 2026, a mortality rate four-times higher than under the Biden Administration, per Human Rights Watch.

Protestors gathered in Seattle in January to decry the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

The killings have been met with widespread outrage and horror. On Tuesday, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler issued the following statement calling for accountability and a pathway to citizenship for immigrant workers:

Six months after federal agents killed Renée Good and Alex Pretti, ICE continues to kill working people. In just the last week, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed on his way to work in Houston, and now Johan Sebastián is dead following an ICE operation in Biddeford, Maine. This cannot become the new normal. No one should have to fear that going to work or driving through their communities could become a death sentence. We grieve with the families and everyone harmed by this escalating violence.

These horrific tragedies are the predictable result of a system that has allowed federal immigration agencies to operate with too little accountability and too few safeguards to protect workers, families and communities. Congress must act immediately to establish meaningful guardrails on ICE’s operations and strengthen oversight to ensure that officers—and those giving their orders—are held accountable to the law. There must be full, transparent and independent investigations into what happened in Texas and Maine, and active steps taken to prevent further needless loss of life.

The AFL-CIO will continue to stand with immigrant workers, demand accountability, and defend civil and human rights. We will fight for an economy where every worker—no matter where they were born—can work with dignity, return home safely and live free from fear. And we will continue to advocate for a long-overdue pathway to citizenship for the millions of immigrant workers who are essential to our economy, our communities and the strength of our labor movement.