by Shawn Nowlin
One month ago, Lorenzo Araujo was a 52-year-old Mexican immigrant working as a construction worker in Houston, Texas. Across the country in Biddeford, Maine, Joan Guerrero, 25, was a Colombian immigrant with a documented history of mental illness.
Both have since been shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent. Eyewitnesses say that Araujo was fatally shot while driving his construction crew to a job site on July 7.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has confirmed that the white powder found in his van was an electrolyte salt mixture to stay hydrated, not drugs.
Guerrero, on the other hand, had his car rammed while circling an intersection after getting shot multiple times.
All agents involved in the high-profile fatal shootings were not wearing body cameras. Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill have since demanded an investigation into ICE’s hiring practices.
Roanoke Indivisible partnered with Disappeared in America last Saturday to host a gathering at Elmwood Park to honor the lives of Araujo and Guerrero.
Protestors of all ages showed up with signs. Some of them read: “We Stand With Immigrant Families,” “End Ice Brutality” and “No More Ice Killings.”
Some drivers honked their horns in support when passing through.
Kayla Porter described what happened as “a moment of true community solidarity.” Continuing, she added, “It warmed my heart to see so many people show up to make a statement.”
“We recognize our democracy was rigged from the start in favor of the white and wealthy. We actively work to realize a shared vision of a real democracy — of, by, and for the people,” wrote Roanoke Indivisible on its website. “We aren’t professional organizers; we are ordinary people committed to action in extraordinary times.”
Tributes to Araujo and Guerrero across the country continue to happen. The largest union and professional association of registered nurses in America, National Nurses United (NNU), fully backs the movement.
Said NNU Executive Director Puneet Maharaj, “We demand justice for the tragic murders of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, who should be alive today. ICE must be held fully accountable for these murders and the violence they are committing in our communities. We must end this fascist violence by abolishing ICE.”
Since the start of Trump’s second term, encounters with ICE and other immigrant agents have resulted in more than ten deaths.
In a statement, Guerrero’s family said, “We will never have the words to express what a marvelous, loving man God gave us. The dream he held closest was becoming a dad. He wanted to be a present father. He never wanted her to think her papa wasn’t there, or he was too busy.”
