Hugo Balderas-Ibarra, who represents two of the people who were in the van driven by Lorenzo Salgado Araujo when he was fatally shot by an ICE agent, is accused of negligence in a separate asylum and immigration case.
A Houston-area attorney representing two of the witnesses to the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by a federal immigration officer is facing a malpractice lawsuit recently filed by a man who was allegedly deported to Mexico.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Somervell County in North Texas in June, claims Hugo Balderas-Ibarra, the attorney, represented Carlos Perez in his “asylum and immigration case,” which resulted in Perez’s deportation.
An attorney for Carlos and Adriena Perez, the plaintiffs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, which was first reported by KPRC.
Balderas-Ibarra is also representing Daniel Tirada Pantoja and Jose Trinidad Pliego, two of the men who were in a van driven by Salgado Araujo when he was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on July 7 in Houston. Pliego was released from federal custody last week, while Pantoja and the third witness, Salgado Araujo’s brother Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, have filed similar petitions for their release from detention. All three of the witnesses are immigrants and have disputed ICE’s claims that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo tried to run over federal agents and was shot in self-defense.
The Perezes’ lawsuit does not share details of the alleged malpractice in the filing, but asserts “loss of income and earning capacity, suffering, mental anguish, loss of consortium, and household services” as damages.
In a court filing, Balderas-Ibarra’s attorney argued as such that the lawsuit is insufficient, urging the judge to order the Perezes iterate their complaints or dismiss the lawsuit. Balderas-Ibarra’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment. He is also moving to move the lawsuit out of Somervell County to Harris County.
In unrelated cases, Balderas-Ibarra faces other legal troubles. Last month, he pleaded no contest to one charge of battery domestic violence in Florida and was sentenced to 12 months of probation, 40 hours of community service and a $108 fine. He also faces a felony assault charge in Harris County for an incident that allegedly took place in 2024. Balderas-Ibarra was indicted on that charge in February of this year, and his next hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday.
Lawyer for 2 witnesses in Houston ICE shooting faces malpractice suit over man’s deportation
