[Episcopal News Service] The dioceses of Texas and Maine are leading Episcopalians in lamenting the human toll of two killings in a week by federal immigration officials, while calling for prayer and peaceful action in response to “holy rage” at the deadly government violence.
On July 9, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who has lived in the United States for 35 years, was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Houston, Texas, while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was searching for another individual.
In a separate enforcement action July 13 in Biddeford, Maine, ICE shot and killed Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a Colombian immigrant who, relatives said, was living in the United States legally. Like Araujo, Guerrero was killed by gunshots fired into his vehicle, and it was not immediately clear if he was the focus of the ICE’s investigation.
In response to public outcry over the shootings, the Trump administration said it would halt traffic stops by ICE. President Donald Trump later said the traffic stops should continue, as part of his administration’s campaign of mass deportations targeting both legal and illegal immigration.
Texas Bishop Andrew Doyle, whose diocese is based in Houston, issued a lengthy pastoral letter in response to the killing of Araujo. “People in our country should not be shot for a civil immigration infraction. This is similar to being hunted, pursued, and shot for a misdemeanor,” Doyle said.
Doyle added that Scripture teaches that Araujo, like all people, was made in God’s image. “Scripture will not allow us the convenience of dehumanizing another human being, for any reason,” Doyle said. “The Bible says, ‘The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.’”
The killings of Araujo and Guerrero have been compared to the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January during federal immigration enforcement operations there. Those killings of unarmed civilians sparked intense criticism of federal tactics, after the incidents were captured on widely shared videos. No video has yet surfaced of either of the two shootings this month, though witnesses have disputed official claims that the ICE officers were acting in self-defense.
The Diocese of Maine, in a July 14 email message, acknowledged the “shock, outrage and grief” residents of Maine feel at the latest ICE killing.
“Our hearts are with Guerrero’s family, community, and everyone grieving his loss, and we join the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, and other social justice organizations in calling for complete accountability,” the diocese said. It offered a prayer for both Guerrero and Araujo.
“Even as we pray, at this point in our lives as Americans it is understandable to feel weary and despondent. But because we are also followers of Jesus Christ, we look to him for solace and strength,” the Diocese of Maine said.
It invited Episcopalians who are feeling “the horror and holy rage of one of our community members being killed by ICE” to join immigrant advocates in a protest July 14 outside an ICE facility in Scarborough.
– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.