FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno joined communities nationwide July 25 protesting the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement policies. Protestors’ demands included accountability in the killing of two immigrants earlier this month by federal agents.
Organizers in Fresno also called on city leaders to end cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“This worries us … because not only in Houston, but in other places, ICE can invent any reason or plant or invent evidence to protect the shooting deaths they commit,” said Leonel Flores Bustamanate with the May 1st Coalition.
The group helped organize Saturday’s rally in Fresno following the July 7 shooting death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On July 13 an agent shot and killed 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine.
ICE said agents were trying to stop a van driven by Salgado Araujo during a “targeted enforcement operation” when he attempted to run over an agent, who shot the 52-year-old business owner and longtime resident. Days later, ICE said it suspected a plastic bag with a white substance inside found in the van was an illicit drug. Salgado Araujo’s family said it was salt used to hydrate Salgado Araujo and fellow workers from the heat.
Agents were not wearing body cameras.
Flores Bustamante said the rally, the second in two weeks held in Fresno, was to “honor the lives” of the victims of ICE violence. “We are here because these are not isolated incidents, but part of a broader pattern of harm experienced by immigrant communities,” he said.
There have been 11 people fatally shot by ICE agents during enforcement operations since Trump took office. At least 22 people have died while in ICE custody this year, following a record high 33 in 2025.
“We are here because these are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of harm experienced by immigrant communities,” said Flores Bustamante. “That’s why the Central Valley is standing in solidarity.”
Saturday’s rally at Eaton Plaza featured wooden crosses with the names of people who died at the hands of ICE agents. Participants were asked to lay down next to the crosses for about a minute.
“We were able to get back up, but those individuals were not,” said Flores Bustamante. “Immigration enforcement should never result in the loss of life. Communities deserve to know how their tax dollars are being used and must feel confident that those entrusted with enforcing the law are held to the highest standards of accountability.
“Families should not have to fear that a loved one will not return home because of an immigration enforcement operation, much less due to loss of life.”
Fresno is located in the San Joaquín Valley, where agriculture depends heavily on undocumented labor. Communities here say they stand united with immigrants across the country at a moment when many feel they are under attack.
The May 1st Coalition is supporting a petition by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) calling for an independent and transparent investigation of the shooting of Salgado Araujo. The petition has more than 173,000 signatures.
“This is not the first time ICE has justified a shooting by claiming someone tried to run over officers, only for later evidence to prove that to be untrue,” said LULAC in a statement.
Christina Gutiérrez called the ICE shootings “not just an immigration issue but a civil rights issue.”
“This is not the kind of nation I want my children to grow up in. This is not the justice we were promised,” said Gutiérrez. “Families are being torn apart because they are living in fear, and communities are under attack.”
Gutiérrez said the immigrant community “deserves to feel safe (and) deserve leaders and policies that respect humanity, dignity and protect families instead of tearing them apart.”
Madera teacher Juan Avitia said he is seeing the impact of harsh ICE enforcement actions in fewer students showing up in his classroom.
“They don’t show up because of that rumor that the migra might show up or that ICE is out there,” said Avitia. “It sets back their education.”
This story was produced as part of “Aquí Estamos/Here We Stand,” a collaborative reporting project of American Community Media and community news outlets statewide.
