AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler issued the following statement in response to the fatal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shootings in Houston and Biddeford, Maine:
Six months after federal agents killed Renée Good and Alex Pretti, ICE continues to kill working people. In just the last week, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed on his way to work in Houston, and now Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero is dead following an ICE operation in Biddeford, Maine. This cannot become the new normal. No one should have to fear that going to work or driving through their communities could become a death sentence. We grieve with the families and everyone harmed by this escalating violence.
These horrific tragedies are the predictable result of a system that has allowed federal immigration agencies to operate with too little accountability and too few safeguards to protect workers, families and communities. Congress must act immediately to establish meaningful guardrails on ICE's operations and strengthen oversight to ensure that officers—and those giving their orders—are held accountable to the law. There must be full, transparent and independent investigations into what happened in Texas and Maine, and active steps taken to prevent further needless loss of life.
The AFL-CIO will continue to stand with immigrant workers, demand accountability, and defend civil and human rights. We will fight for an economy where every worker—no matter where they were born—can work with dignity, return home safely and live free from fear. And we will continue to advocate for a long-overdue pathway to citizenship for the millions of immigrant workers who are essential to our economy, our communities and the strength of our labor movement.
Contact: Dakar Lanzino, [email protected]