Mexico to Request Criminal Charges Over 17 Deaths in ICE Custody; U.S. Cites Self-Defense in Latest Shooting

Mexican officials announced on July 9 that they will request criminal charges over the deaths of 17 Mexicans who died in ICE custody or during immigration enforcement operations. The requests will be submitted to state prosecutors’ offices and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Civil lawsuits will also be filed against the companies that operate the detention centers. President Claudia Sheinbaum said the decision to move beyond diplomatic channels followed the killing of Mexican citizen Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an ICE agent in Houston earlier that week. She described the incident as sad and regrettable and said it appeared to have been targeted.

Salgado Araujo had lived in the United States for decades without legal authorization and was transporting a work crew to a housing construction site when he was shot. Department of Homeland Security officials stated that agents were pursuing Salgado Araujo because he was living in the country without legal authorization.

They said he disregarded orders and attempted to ram an agent, who fired in self-defense.

According to the Mexican government, 14 Mexicans have died while in ICE custody and three during ICE operations. Mexico had previously sent diplomatic notes demanding investigations into the deaths, raised the issue with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and lodged a complaint with the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Sheinbaum ordered consulates to regularly check in with ICE detainees earlier this year. Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said the request for criminal charges carries no legal weight but aims to end human rights violations in the facilities.

"We are going to do everything in our power, because we cannot stand silent" in the face of the deaths of Mexicans "whose only crime is working honestly in the United States," Sheinbaum said.