by Lalo Cuitzeo
Trump’s war against immigrants and solidarity organizers has increased in repression and violence, while communities live in uncertainty and rebellion. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was gunned down in a hail of gunfire, killed in cold blood by ICE agents. His murder follows the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, two community defenders active in the nationwide struggle against fascism. On June 16, 2026, The U.S. Justice Department filed charges against 15 Minneapolis people, accusing them of a “conspiracy” to “impede” U.S. immigration officers during the Operation Metro Surge ICE and Border Patrol winter siege of Minnesota. Eight pro-immigrant activists in Alvarado, Texas received prison sentences ranging from 30-100 years for attending a late-night demonstration with fireworks to show support for immigrants held captive at the Prairieland Detention Center.
On July 7, 2026, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo — from Tlatlaya, Mexico — was on the way to his construction job in Houston, Texas, with three co-workers including his brother, Victor Salgado, when two unmarked SUV’s approached his work van. The passengers in Lorenzo’s van have written statements that Lorenzo had pulled over and stopped the van when ICE agents opened fire, shooting Lorenzo through the passenger side window into his abdomen. This contradicts ICE’s false statements that Lorenzo was somehow trying to crash into them with his vehicle. According to the passengers, an agent violently pulled Lorenzo out of the van after shooting him. The agent then handcuffed Lorenzo’s wrists and ankles before agents did the same to the three other men. Lorenzo yelled out “Ya me mataron,” which translates to “they killed me,” as his final words. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo died shortly after, leaving behind his community and family, including a wife and three kids.
On September 12, 2025, Silverio Gonzalez — from Irimbo, Michoacán, Mexico — dropped off his three-year-old son at daycare in the Franklin Park section of Chicago, Illinois. Security footage from just down the street showed two plainclothes agents approaching Silverio’s car which was blocked in by an unmarked SUV. A witness in a nearby apartment described the agents as wearing body armor with no agency lettering. Silverio eventually reversed away from the two men approaching his car, and began to drive away from the agents — not toward them, as the Department of Homeland Security claimed — when the agent on the passenger side fired shots into the back of Villegas González’s car. The witness described Silverio as having “blood all over his neck and head.” He was pronounced dead at Loyola University Medical Center. Once again, ICE used the same line that Silverio “drove his car at law enforcement officers … fearing for his life, the officer fired his weapon.”
ICE started this year off by shooting and killing three people within the first month of 2026. In California, Keith Porter was shot dead by an off-duty ICE agent during a New Years Eve celebration in Los Angeles. Days later on January 7, 2026, Renee Good was murdered by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. ICE once again used the same false reasoning, that a moving vehicle made them fear for their lives, to justify the killing of Good that they had used against Salgado. Then on January 24th, Alex Pretti was shot to death by a United States Border Patrol Agent in Minneapolis. The two execution-style killings in Minneapolis occurred during “Operation Metro Surge,” when ICE and Border Patrol descended upon the Twin Cities to wreak havoc on immigrant communities and activists standing in solidarity. Community defenders mobilized to track the movements of repressive federal immigration agents, alert people to their presence, and step in when possible to stop abductions from happening. The mobilization from community members in Minneapolis inspired activists far and wide by successfully countering a belligerent and fascist paramilitary invasion.
Months after the Operation Metro Surge public relations nightmare, the federal government has retaliated by charging 15 Minnesotans with conspiracy charges. The Minnesota U.S. District Attorney has accused the Minnesota 15 of “violently oppos[ing] the enforcement of federal law,” by allegedly setting up blockades around government buildings, throwing chunks of ice at federal vehicles and “stalking” agents as they moved through Minneapolis. Newly released law enforcement files related to this case show that immediately after the murder of Pretti by Border Patrol agents, the U.S. government initiated an extensive surveillance campaign called “Operation Puppet Master,” targeting leftist protestors, labor unions, and organizations.
The Operation Puppet Master files reveal a detailed list of undercover agents infiltrating organizing meetings. One example mentioned was a Sunrise Movement meeting where an undercover posed as a construction worker and acted as an agent provocateur. The agent told someone in attendance that because he “works in construction,” he “could build items that might assist other groups with more direct-actions” and remarked that “going to jail did not bother him.” This was a clear attempt to entrap activists into illegal activity. Another undercover agent got added to Signal app chats to surveil activists and monitor their rapid response movements. Operation Puppet Master and the follow-up investigation “Project Whipple Shield” are drawing comparisons to COINTELPRO: the FBI infiltration, harassment, and surveillance counter intelligence program of the 1960’s and 70’s that targeted leftist movements in the U.S.
On July 4th, 2025, around a dozen people gathered for a noise demonstration in Alavarado, Texas at the Prairieland Detention Center to show solidarity with immigrant detainees. Fireworks were let off and police claim that a protestor exchanged gunfire with correctional officers and an Alvarado police officer on a nearby street. Afterward, police arrested everyone in the area and charged 10 people with crimes varying from terrorism to attempted murder. Two days later, an 11th person was arrested after receiving a phone call from someone in the jail. He was arrested by the FBI in Denton, Texas with a box of zines in their car. The FBI have since turned him over to ICE custody where he is now under the threat of deportation. On June 23, 2026, 8 of the Prairieland defendants were sentenced to Federal prison, with terms ranging from 30-100 years.
Immigration detention centers are sites of massive human rights violations. People are subjected to rotten food, unsanitary living conditions, abuse by guards, isolation, and more. Detainees, including those at the infamous Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA, often launch hunger strikes as a form of protest and resistance against these conditions, demanding humane treatment. Over 50 people have died in ICE custody since Trump re-took office in January 2025.
Brutality, repression, and disregard for human life by the federal government continues, but so does the resistance. When ICE rips families apart and shoots immigrants and solidarity activists alike, the people become more activated in the growing struggle against fascism. Immigrants are being held captive at detention centers for indefinite amounts of time, while activists are being rounded up on false charges and sent away for decades. The criminalization of protest and community defense escalates where anyone standing up to authoritarianism is subject to imprisonment or worse. The need for prison solidarity work is more important than ever to remind people inside detention centers, prisons, and jails that we continue the struggle in their name, and that we will never forget them. Honor the lives of fallen comrades by fighting with relentlessness and intelligence, so that we will not only slow down enemy forces, but ultimately defeat them.