July 22 (UPI) — Mexico said Wednesday it filed criminal complaints with prosecutors in the United States and referred cases involving the deaths of Mexican nationals in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody or operations to the U.S. Justice Department.
It also asked the United Nations human rights chief to review the cases, marking the next phase of legal action announced earlier this month.
Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said the actions follow measures announced by President Claudia Sheinbaum on July 9 in response to the deaths of 17 Mexican citizens recorded since May 2025 during ICE operations or while detained by the agency.
Nota informativa.https://t.co/ubt9nO14vn pic.twitter.com/dFoXmjK7IY— Relaciones Exteriores (@SRE_mx) July 22, 2026
According to the ministry, Mexican Ambassador to the United States Roberto Lazzeri filed 20 complaints July 13 — eight with state prosecutors and 12 with county prosecutors — in the jurisdictions where the deaths occurred –Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas.
A day later, Mexico’s Embassy in Washington transmitted a complaint prepared by the Office of the Attorney General to the U.S. Justice Department through the State Department, requesting that investigations be opened into all 17 cases and that U.S. authorities provide updates on their progress.
The ministry also said Lazzeri met last week with officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to express Mexico’s concerns over conditions inside immigration detention centers, including those operated by private contractors, and to request that each death be fully investigated.
Separately, Deputy Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco Alvarez wrote July 14 to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk through Mexico’s permanent mission in Geneva.
The letter asked the U.N. human rights office to gather information on the cases through requests for clarification to the United States, assess whether the incidents are consistent with international human rights obligations and issue technical recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths.
Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said its consular network continues to provide legal assistance to the families of the deceased, including support with the repatriation of remains and other requests made by relatives.
The ministry said it will continue monitoring the legal proceedings and will provide updatesas U.S. authorities respond to the complaints.
Sheinbaum announced the legal strategy earlier this month, saying Mexico would move beyond diplomatic protests by pursuing criminal complaints and civil actions in the United States over the deaths.
Among the cases she highlighted was that of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who was fatally shot by ICE agents in Houston after they allegedly mistook him for a Guatemalan citizen during an immigration operation.
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