Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego and Daniel Tirado Pantoja, both Mexican citizens who had lived in the United States for decades without criminal records, were rear passengers in a van driven by Lorenzo Salgado Araujo when ICE agents fatally shot the driver on July 7, 2026, in Houston. Both men were detained by ICE following the incident. In their federal court statements, both witnesses contradicted the government's account of the shooting. Rojas Pliego, who is in a common-law marriage with a U.S. citizen and has seven U.S. citizen children and stepchildren, described unmarked ICE vehicles cornering the van and stated it was "impossible" that officers were in danger after the driver stopped. He reported being pulled from the vehicle, handcuffed, and thrown to the ground by the officer who fired the shots. Tirado Pantoja, described by his employer as a devoted family man with integrity and dedication, stated that agents were positioned only to the sides of the van and that Salgado Araujo had come to a full stop before being shot. Both men filed habeas corpus petitions challenging their confinement and applied for U visas for crime victims who assist law enforcement. On July 21, 2026, U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison ordered the Department of Homeland Security not to deport either witness or transfer them outside the Southern District of Texas without court permission while their habeas petitions are pending.