This story was updated at 7 a.m. July 15, 2026.
About 60 people lined the edge of Children’s Park or stood at the corner of First and Broadway July 14 to protest two killings by federal immigration agents in less than a week. In fact, a total of three people died during immigration enforcement beginning with the July 7 killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston.
Salgado Araujo was killed by ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) agents during a traffic stop, according to the New York Times, which also reported that he was apparently not the “intended target.”
Johan Sebastian Guerrero was killed by a federal agent the morning of July 13 in Biddeford, Maine. Sebastian Guerrero was a Colombian immigrant who was authorized to work in this country and was driving to his workplace when he was killed.
In cities across the nation, people gathered in vigils while the Trump administration ordered ICE to halt most vehicle stops, the New York Times reports. However, President Trump later said the vehicle stops should continue.
Then, on July 14, a man who has not yet been identified was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer as he was fleeing immigration agents in Florida.
Jennifer Teague of Chico said she showed up for what was termed a “Vigil for the Victims” because she wanted to protest the “atrocities happening in our country.”
Teague said immigration agents are “unqualified” and are “terrorizing immigrants and people of color.”
At a vigil for Salgado Araujo in Houston, a statement from his son was read, according to reporting by American Community Media.
“He did not deserve to die,” the statement said. “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 for dozens of men who also wanted the American dream.”
Chico organizations including Chico Indivisible and the Re-Sisters said a protest will be held at 11 a.m. at Children’s Park on July 18.
Leslie Layton is editor of ChicoSol.
2 Comments
Thank you Leslie well written and potent as usual. These atrocities by ICE agents, especially those going after the wrong target as in the cases of Araujo and Guerrero, and all violence against our immigrant community members must be stopped.
Kate McCracken
“If you know how quickly people forget the dead,you will stop trying to impress people” Christopher Walken