ICE is threatening to deport witnesses of its latest shooting

美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）正威胁驱逐其近期枪击事件的目击者

Even with three eyewitness accounts that contradict its story, the agency is using a self-defense justification for the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. 尽管有三名目击者的证词与官方说法相矛盾，该机构仍以“自卫”为由，为其枪杀洛伦佐·萨尔加多·阿劳霍（Lorenzo Salgado Araujo）的行为进行辩护。

Advocates are demanding that the Department of Homeland Security release bodycam footage of the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant who was killed by ICE officers in Houston during a traffic stop earlier this week. But DHS claims the agents involved in the shooting weren’t wearing body cameras because of the lengthy government shutdown that prevented ICE and Customs and Border Protection from receiving additional federal funding for 76 days — a shutdown that was itself spurred by congressional bickering over reforms to DHS after federal agents killed two civilians earlier this year. 维权人士正要求国土安全部（DHS）公布洛伦佐·萨尔加多·阿劳霍被枪杀时的随身摄像机录像。阿劳霍是一名墨西哥移民，本周早些时候在休斯顿的一次交通拦截中被ICE官员杀害。但国土安全部声称，涉事特工当时并未佩戴随身摄像机，原因是长期的政府停摆导致ICE和海关及边境保护局（CBP）有76天无法获得额外的联邦资金——而这次停摆本身，正是由于今年早些时候联邦特工杀害两名平民后，国会就国土安全部改革问题产生争执所引发的。

Two competing narratives have emerged in the absence of any footage of the shooting, which occurred Tuesday around 7AM as Salgado Araujo, who owned a construction business, drove to a work site with three of his employees. But as the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti demonstrated, DHS will readily accuse victims of attacking agents — even when video evidence shows otherwise. 由于缺乏枪击现场的录像，目前出现了两种截然不同的说法。枪击事件发生在周二上午7点左右，当时经营建筑生意的萨尔加多·阿劳霍正载着三名员工前往工地。然而，正如蕾妮·古德（Renee Good）和亚历克斯·普雷蒂（Alex Pretti）被杀事件所表明的那样，即便视频证据显示事实并非如此，国土安全部也总是会迅速指责受害者袭击了特工。

But what good is video footage or eyewitness accounts in a world where the government will just deny accountability, even when confronted with evidence that clearly contradicts their statements? Even if footage of Salgado Araujo’s shooting does emerge, it won’t stop DHS from saying whatever it wants about the people it kills. 但在一个政府即便面对明确反驳其声明的证据时，仍会拒绝承担责任的世界里，视频录像或目击者证词又有什么用呢？即使萨尔加多·阿劳霍被枪杀的录像最终出现，也无法阻止国土安全部对其杀害的人随意编造说辞。

An ICE spokesperson said Salgado Araujo “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer” — which echoes claims DHS has made after other shootings, some of them fatal. But three eyewitnesses, all of whom are in ICE detention, maintain that Salgado Araujo did no such thing. According to their accounts, which attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra shared with The Washington Post, ICE vehicles surrounded the work van on both sides and shot into their vehicle. Juan Proaño, the CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, told The New Republic that DHS is pressuring the witnesses to self-deport. 一名ICE发言人称，萨尔加多·阿劳霍“将车辆作为武器，试图碾压一名ICE执法人员”——这与国土安全部在其他枪击事件（包括一些致死事件）后的说辞如出一辙。但三名目前被关押在ICE拘留所的目击者坚称，萨尔加多·阿劳霍根本没有这样做。根据律师雨果·巴尔德拉斯-伊瓦拉（Hugo Balderas-Ibarra）向《华盛顿邮报》提供的证词，ICE车辆从两侧包围了那辆工程车，并向车内开枪。拉丁美洲公民联盟（LULAC）首席执行官胡安·普罗阿尼奥（Juan Proaño）告诉《新共和》杂志，国土安全部正在向这些目击者施压，要求他们“自愿离境”。

In a statement released after the shooting, DHS said agents stopped Salgado Araujo “as part of a targeted enforcement operation.” But sources with knowledge of the situation told both The New York Times and CNN that Salgado Araujo wasn’t the target. Officers were reportedly looking for two Guatemalan men. While surveilling a property connected to the Guatemalan men, officials had seen two white vans, a DHS spokesperson told the Times. Later, “they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target” — the van driven by Salgado Araujo. 在枪击事件后发表的一份声明中，国土安全部称特工拦截萨尔加多·阿劳霍是“有针对性执法行动的一部分”。但知情人士告诉《纽约时报》和CNN，萨尔加多·阿劳霍并非目标。据报道，官员们当时正在寻找两名危地马拉男子。国土安全部发言人告诉《纽约时报》，在监视与这两名危地马拉男子有关的一处房产时，官员们看到了两辆白色货车。随后，“他们观察到一辆白色货车，车内的人长得像目标人物”——那正是萨尔加多·阿劳霍驾驶的货车。

ICE has reportedly increased its presence in Houston in recent weeks as part of a broader enforcement push, albeit a less bombastic one than DHS’s shock-and-awe raids in Minnesota. DHS changed tactics after widespread backlash to Operation Metro Surge, opting for “targeted” arrests over mass raids. But quieter enforcement doesn’t mean less enforcement. Earlier this month, ICE reported it had arrested 10,000 people in just five days. 据报道，作为更广泛执法行动的一部分，ICE近几周增加了在休斯顿的警力，尽管其声势不如国土安全部在明尼苏达州进行的“震慑式”突袭。在“地铁激增行动”（Operation Metro Surge）引发广泛抵制后，国土安全部改变了策略，选择“有针对性”的逮捕而非大规模突袭。但更隐蔽的执法并不意味着执法力度减弱。本月早些时候，ICE报告称其在短短五天内逮捕了1万人。

This sharp rise in arrests may be fueled by rampant racial profiling. Federal agents are disproportionately targeting Latinos in the New York City area, according to hundreds of federal court records analyzed by The City Reporter. Though Latin Americans make up approximately 66 percent of the region’s undocumented population, more than 93 percent of people DHS agents grabbed off city streets were Latinos. Many of these followed the same pattern as the attempted arrest of Salgado Araujo in Houston. According to court records, agents would grab someone who they claimed looked like their intended target and detain them even if they weren’t the person they were looking for. 逮捕人数的急剧上升可能源于猖獗的种族定性。据《城市记者》（The City Reporter）对数百份联邦法院记录的分析显示，联邦特工在纽约市地区不成比例地针对拉丁裔。尽管拉丁美洲人仅占该地区无证移民人口的约66%，但被国土安全部特工从街头抓走的人中，超过93%是拉丁裔。其中许多案例与萨尔加多·阿劳霍在休斯顿被捕时的模式如出一辙。根据法庭记录，特工会抓捕那些他们声称“长得像目标”的人，即使对方并非他们要找的人，也会将其拘留。

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who took over the department after the ouster of Kristi Noem, reportedly wanted to present a softer image on immigration after facing widespread criticism over its tactics in Minnesota — especially in advance of the midterms. 据报道，在克里斯蒂·诺姆（Kristi Noem）被免职后接管国土安全部的部长马克韦恩·穆林（Markwayne Mullin），在因明尼苏达州的执法策略面临广泛批评后，希望在移民问题上展现出更温和的形象——尤其是在中期选举临近之际。

If DHS was hoping that its less overtly aggressive approach would keep ICE out of the headlines, the shooting of Salgado Araujo has done the opposite. Hundreds of protesters gathered in Houston on Wednesday, marching to the block where Salgado Araujo was killed. Democrats are calling for an independent investigation of the shooting. DHS’s Office of the Inspector General has reportedly opened its own probe. The FBI’s Houston field office is also investigating the alleged assault on a federal law enforcement officer — even though eyewitnesses say no assault occurred. 如果国土安全部曾希望通过这种不那么激进的方式让ICE远离舆论焦点，那么萨尔加多·阿劳霍的枪击事件则适得其反。周三，数百名抗议者聚集在休斯顿，游行至萨尔加多·阿劳霍遇害的街区。民主党人正呼吁对此次枪击事件进行独立调查。据报道，国土安全部监察长办公室已启动了内部调查。联邦调查局（FBI）休斯顿外勤办公室也在调查所谓的“袭击联邦执法人员”事件——尽管目击者称根本没有发生过任何袭击。

In fact, the three witnesses claimed that ICE agents shot unprovoked. “It is impossible for them to say that they were going to get run over,” Jose Trinidad Rojas, one of the men who was traveling with Salgado Araujo, said in a handwritten note reviewed by the Post, because “there were no officers in front of or behind the vehicle. They were on the sides.” 事实上，三名目击者声称ICE特工是无端开火。与萨尔加多·阿劳霍同行的何塞·特立尼达·罗哈斯（Jose Trinidad Rojas）在《华盛顿邮报》查阅的一份手写笔记中写道：“他们说自己要被碾压是不可能的，因为车辆的前方或后方根本没有特工。他们当时是在车辆的两侧。”

Hugo Balderas-Ibarra, the attorney who shared Trinidad Rojas’ and the other witnesses’ statements with the Post, said all the survivors independently verified that government vehicles surrounded Salgado Araujo’s van on both sides and then started shooting. 将特立尼达·罗哈斯及其他目击者的证词提供给《华盛顿邮报》的律师雨果·巴尔德拉斯-伊瓦拉表示，所有幸存者都独立证实，政府车辆从两侧包围了萨尔加多·阿劳霍的货车，随后便开始射击。

This isn’t the first time that federal immigration officers have justified shooting civilians by claiming they acted in self-defense. Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who shot Renee Good, said he feared for his life, and testified in court that he had previously been dragged 100 yards by a driver who refused to stop. 这并非联邦移民官员首次以“自卫”为由为枪杀平民辩护。枪杀蕾妮·古德的ICE特工乔纳森·罗斯（Jonathan Ross）曾声称自己当时担心生命安全，并在法庭上作证称，他此前曾被一名拒绝停车的司机拖行了100码。