Mexico's government has formally asked U.S. state attorneys general to open criminal investigations into the deaths of Mexican immigrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and operations, marking a significant diplomatic escalation over Trump administration enforcement actions.
The formal request, submitted Tuesday by Mexico's foreign ministry, follows the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an ICE agent in Houston last week. Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old construction worker with no criminal record who had lived in the United States for 35 years, was killed while driving his crew to a job site. The Department of Homeland Security said he rammed an ICE vehicle and that an agent fired in self-defense. His death triggered protests in Houston and calls from Democratic lawmakers and his family for an independent investigation.
Since Trump took office for his second term, 17 Mexican nationals have died during immigration enforcement operations, with 14 in ICE custody and three during raids. Mexico indicated it will also send the request to the U.S. Department of Justice, though the U.S. has no legal obligation to comply.
The Mexican government has simultaneously launched a separate pressure campaign targeting detention facilities. Letters have been sent to ICE detention centers demanding they stop practices that have led to deaths, including denial of prompt medical care and enforcement of policies that violate medical and penitentiary standards. Adelanto, a California detention facility where four Mexican immigrants died, was the first to receive such a letter.
Mexico's foreign ministry signaled these letters represent a preliminary step toward filing civil lawsuits against private companies operating the detention centers. The government is seeking court orders to halt what it describes as systematic human rights violations.
Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco Álvarez has also escalated the matter internationally. He sent a letter to Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, requesting that U.S. authorities conduct a comprehensive investigation into the deaths and assess whether they comply with international human rights obligations. Velasco Álvarez asked Türk to bring the cases before the UN Human Rights Council and seek its recommendations.
The series of moves reflects a hardening stance from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration in response to Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement. Earlier this year, Sheinbaum directed Mexico's diplomatic missions across the United States to regularly monitor conditions for detained Mexican nationals and lodge formal complaints with international bodies.
Author James Rodriguez: "Mexico's formal complaints and international appeals signal that diplomatic friction over immigration enforcement is far from over, and Washington may face unexpected legal pressure on detention practices it previously operated with minimal scrutiny."
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