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Mexico has begun filing complaints in the U.S. over the deaths of 17 Mexican nationals in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or during enforcement operations, the Foreign Ministry said in a July 14 statement.
The measures follow President Claudia Sheinbaum’s announcement last week that Mexico would move beyond diplomatic protests after the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant killed by ICE agents in Houston on July 7.
The Foreign Ministry outlined four actions to what has become a priority.
First, Mexico will present a complaint before the U.S. Department of Justice in coordination with Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office. The filing will be delivered through Mexico’s embassy in Washington.
Second, Mexico has also begun filing complaints before the appropriate state prosecutors’ offices in the U.S. through its embassy and consular network.
Third, the government is also taking steps toward civil action against detention centers where Mexican nationals have died. Mexico has begun sending cease-and-desist letters to those facilities, starting with the Adelanto processing center in California, where four Mexican nationals have died.
The first letter, signed by Mexico's Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser, demands that the Adelanto center immediately stop actions or omissions that Mexico says may have contributed to the deaths. The ministry cited failures, including lack of prompt medical care and policies deemed incompatible with medical and prison standards.
The cease-and-desist letters are the first formal step toward possible civil lawsuits, according to the statement.
Finally, Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco sent a communication to Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, informing him of the deaths of Mexican nationals under ICE custody. Mexico asked Türk’s office to request information from U.S. authorities, analyze whether the cases comply with international human rights obligations, issue recommendations and refer the matter to the appropriate United Nations Human Rights Council procedures.
The ministry said the actions are part of an investigation phase, a necessary step before any court action can proceed.
