An agent with ICE, the U.S. immigration enforcement agency, shot and killed a Mexican driver in Texas.

The incident occurred during an “operation” in Houston, Texas (south), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced.

This is the first fatality caused by gunfire from federal agents as part of the anti-immigration campaign by the administration of Republican President Donald Trump, following thethe deaths of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Preti, in Minneapolis in January.

“He ran into an ICE vehicle and refused to obey orders.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees immigration enforcement, confirmed that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, whom it identified as a Mexican national present in the United States without authorization, attempted to evade arrest during an ICE operation.

“According to the information we received, he ran into an ICE vehicle, refused to comply with multiple verbal commands, and turned his car into a weapon in an attempt to strike an ICE agent,” the department stated.

The agent used his service weapon “in self-defense,” the statement added. It added that Lorenzo Salgado Araújo died at the hospital where he was taken.

Two separate investigations into the case have been launched, one by the department and the other by the local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to the DHS statement. However, according to reports in the U.S. media, the FBI is investigating an assault on a police officer—not the death of the Mexican citizen.

Immigration enforcement is at the forefront of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration crackdown.

The methods it employs are often described as brutal, while the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Preti—who were participating in protests against its actions—sparked intense emotional reactions and an outcry across the country.

Repeatedly, in previous cases of this nature, the release of video footage from body cameras has cast doubt on the accounts provided by U.S. authorities. In yesterday’s fatal incident, eyewitnesses took photos and videos, according to an NBC News report.

Source: iefimerida.gr