MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government announced Tuesday that it has formally asked U.S. state attorneys general to launch criminal investigations into the deaths of migrants who died while held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or during agency operations.
The request comes in the wake of the death of Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was fatally shot by an ICE agent while driving his construction crew to a job site in Houston. Since the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, 17 Mexican migrants have died during immigration enforcement — 14 while in ICE custody and three during agency operations.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the request was made official on Tuesday, noting that a similar appeal will also be directed to the U.S. Department of Justice. However, the United States is under no legal obligation to act on either request.
In a separate move, the Mexican government has begun sending letters to U.S. detention facilities where Mexican migrants have died. The letters demand that those centers “immediately cease the actions or omissions that resulted in these deaths, such as preventing access to prompt and expedited medical care, as well as the application of policies incompatible with medical and penitentiary standards.”
The first facility to receive such a letter was the Adelanto detention center in California, where four Mexican migrants have died.
According to Mexico’s Foreign Ministry, the letters represent an initial step toward “the eventual filing of civil lawsuits” against the private companies operating those detention centers, aimed at halting what the government describes as human rights violations.
Last week, Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco had announced his country’s intention to go directly to U.S. authorities seeking criminal investigations in cases involving Mexicans killed in ICE custody or during enforcement operations.
Salgado Araujo had no criminal record and had lived in the United States for 35 years before he was shot last Tuesday. His death triggered protests in Houston and prompted calls from Democrats and his family for an independent investigation. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said the 52-year-old had struck an ICE vehicle with his own, and that an agent fired in self-defense.
Foreign Minister Velasco also wrote to Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, asking that U.S. authorities collect information about the migrant deaths in ICE custody and evaluate whether those events are consistent with international human rights obligations. Velasco further asked Türk to seek the opinion of the U.N. Human Rights Council — an intergovernmental body that promotes human rights globally — and request recommendations on the cases.
The escalating response reflects Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s growing pushback against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies. Earlier this year, Sheinbaum directed Mexico’s diplomatic missions throughout the U.S. to regularly check on ICE detainees, and her government had previously filed a complaint with Türk.
