Mexico Files Criminal Complaints Against ICE After 14 Mexicans Die in US Custody

Mexico said it will file criminal complaints in the United States over the deaths of more than a dozen of its citizens in US custody, with Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco saying 14 Mexicans died while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and another three during ICE “arrest operations”.

“The government of Mexico has said it will ask United States prosecutors to open criminal investigations into the deaths of its citizens during immigration enforcement operations”

Al Jazeera

President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico “cannot turn a blind eye to the Mexicans who have died” and vowed at a Thursday morning news conference to file a formal complaint with both state and federal prosecutors in the United States.

Al Jazeera

The Mexican government’s move followed the July 7 shooting in Houston, where ICE said a 52-year-old Mexican national, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, was shot during a “targeted enforcement operation” and died after the officer fired in self-defense.

In Houston, more than a thousand people protested on Wednesday, where an ICE officer had shot dead Salgado Araujo the day before, and the BBC reported the case had triggered outrage in Mexico as well.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement published on X that “ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop as part of a targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien,” describing Salgado Araujo as having rammed an ICE vehicle and weaponized his vehicle before the officer fired.

Ronaldo Salgado told journalists his father “did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of 'Mexican man shot and killed by ICE'”, while the Department of Homeland Security said ICE law enforcement attempted a vehicle stop and that Salgado Araujo rammed an ICE vehicle and refused verbal commands.

The family disputed the government’s account, with the BBC reporting that Salgado Araujo’s family said he was on his way to work when he was shot by an ICE agent, and Al Jazeera adding that his family said he had no criminal convictions and was driving a crew to a construction site when he was killed.

AP News

Al Jazeera reported that hundreds of people marched through Houston’s historic Magnolia Park neighbourhood chanting “ICE out of Houston,” and it said the family and politicians including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Representative Sylvia Garcia called for a full investigation into his killing.

CNN reported that a source with preliminary details said Salgado Araujo was not the target of the Houston immigration operation, and it quoted a Homeland Security official describing how officers initiated the vehicle stop after observing a white van with an individual who resembled the target.

CNN also said the officers involved had not yet been issued body-worn cameras, and that the DHS’ Office of the Inspector General was leading an investigation into the shooting while the FBI’s Houston field office investigated the alleged assault on a federal law enforcement officer.

Mexico’s foreign minister said the complaints would seek investigations into the deaths of Mexicans in ICE custody or operations “as criminal matters,” and Al Jazeera reported Mexico also plans to file civil lawsuits against private companies that operate US immigration detention centres.

“Mexico to press for criminal charges over deaths in US custody The Mexican government says it will file criminal complaints in the United States over the deaths of more than a dozen of its citizens in US custody”

BBC

Sheinbaum’s remarks signaled Mexico was prepared to issue its strongest response yet to the growing number of fatalities linked to Donald Trump’s deportation crackdown, and Al Jazeera said the move came two days after the July 7 Houston shooting.

The BBC reported that four members of the US Congress demanded a fully independent and transparent investigation into Salgado’s death, urging the secretary of Homeland Security to not forget the cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two US citizens killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in January.

In Houston, the Texas Tribune said the shooting was the latest in a series of migrant deaths while in federal custody or interacting with agents in Texas since Trump returned to office in 2025, and it cited a Texas Tribune analysis that at least 14 other people have died in custody in Texas since January 2025.

Al Jazeera added that Mexico had previously ordered consular officials to increase their visits to ICE detention centres from weekly to daily after another Mexican national died in detention in April, and it quoted the Foreign Ministry saying “The repeated occurrence of deaths in custody is unacceptable and reveals serious deficiencies in ICE detention centers”.