Community members and immigrant-rights advocates filled a South Bay gathering in San Jose yesterday for a candlelit vigil, mourning two men killed in separate encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. People lit candles, read names and urged federal officials to release any available footage and bring in independent reviewers for both shootings.
Who the victims were
The vigil honored Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed during an ICE enforcement operation in Houston on July 7, and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, who was killed by an ICE agent in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13. According to the Houston Chronicle, Salgado was a longtime Houston resident who was shot while driving a work van. The Bangor Daily News reports that Durán Guerrero was a Colombian national who died after agents approached his vehicle near his home.
What investigators and witnesses say
Federal officials have described both shootings as responses to perceived threats, saying officers fired after vehicles were weaponized or posed an imminent danger. Reporting from The Texas Tribune notes that witnesses and passengers have challenged those accounts and that agents involved in both incidents were not wearing body cameras, leaving no complete body-cam record of what happened.
In the wake of the two deaths, federal officials ordered a temporary pause on most ICE vehicle stops while the agency reviews tactics and equipment, according to reporting by WABI. Lawmakers from Maine to Texas have pushed for faster deployment of body-worn cameras as well as transparent, independent investigations into the incidents.
South Bay vigil and demands
Speakers at the San Jose gathering called on investigators to release any footage, identify the officers involved and explain how ICE tactics resulted in the two deaths. A local video report from CBS Bay Area captured the candlelight ceremony, showing community members demanding accountability and an end to enforcement practices they described as dangerous for neighbors and families.
The deaths have already triggered parallel official actions. The Harris County medical examiner ruled Salgado’s death a homicide, and both federal and local authorities have opened probes into the encounters, according to Click2Houston. Family members who attended the South Bay vigil said they plan to keep pressing for public, independent reviews until they see results.
Organizers described the San Jose event as one of many vigils and protests nationwide following recent ICE shootings and said the South Bay gathering was intended to keep pressure on officials as investigations move forward. With medical examiner rulings and congressional testimony already in motion, community leaders say they intend to keep public attention fixed on reforms and oversight until families get answers.
