Houston, Texas— On Monday, July 13, just six days after immigration agents shot and killed father and husband Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston while on his way to work, immigration agents shot and killed 26-year-old father Johan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine in front of his wife and 3-year-old daughter. These tragedies mark a violent surge of deadly immigration enforcement ramping up across the country, as the Administration expands workplace immigration raids and enforcement on the streets of cities nationwide.
In response to these recent tragedies, United We Dream released the following statement:
“Every evening after a long day’s worth of work, Lorenzo’s family would find him resting on the porch of their home, listening to music, petting his dog. That is the father Lorenzo’s sons want the world to remember. A father –like so many working class dads who we know and love– who never complain about the grueling days of work ahead, whose hands are marked by the familiar site of callouses one can only get from 30 years of building homes in our neighborhoods, who soak in the simple pleasures of listening to music that transports them back to their childhood home, and who raise their families with the value of hard work.
The legacy immigrant fathers like Lorenzo and Johan leave behind is defined not by their status, but by the love they showed to the people around them. Through constant sacrifice, quiet generosity, and selfless service to making their communities better. Many of us know all too well that this is the story of immigrant parents and workers in America whose lives are increasingly treated as disposable. We refuse to stay silent as Congress shovels hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars into this violence and demand not a single penny more goes to immigration enforcement. Together, we have a responsibility to make this country a place where fathers, parents, immigrants, and workers just like Lorenzo and Johan can actually live to enjoy the life they worked hard to build.”
