Mexico seeks US investigations after ICE shooting of Mexican man, raising bilateral tensions
Mexico announced it will pursue civil and criminal investigations in the United States over the death of a Mexican man shot by ICE, warning that the case could further strain already tense US-Mexico relations.
Mexico's president announced Thursday that the government will request civil and criminal investigations in the United States concerning the deaths of 17 Mexican nationals during immigration enforcement actions, citing the recent ICE shooting of 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston. The Mexican administration said the investigations are intended to protect the human rights of Mexicans living in the United States and also plans to file petitions with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights office.
ICE officials said agents fired after Salgado Araujo, who they said was in the country illegally, rammed a law-enforcement vehicle and ignored verbal commands. His family disputes that account, saying he would have stopped had he known the vehicle was police.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defended the agency, stating that ICE agents are trained to use only the minimum force necessary and that detainees receive due process, food, water, medical care and access to family and attorneys.
Analysts told CNN that the incident could widen an existing rift between the two countries. José Luis Valdés Ugalde of the National Autonomous University of Mexico said the case "affects the bilateral relationship and the pending issues" such as security, migration and trade. International affairs commentator Fausto Pretelin described the relationship as being at its worst moment and warned that the Mexican president's move could further damage ties.
Mexico's foreign minister said the government has already sent 11 diplomatic notes of protest over the deaths of its citizens and now seeks action beyond diplomatic channels. Some experts, including UNAM professor Tomás Milton Muñoz Bravo, argue that the response should have come earlier and stress the need for concrete follow-through.
Both sides acknowledge that tensions remain high and that any additional deaths of Mexican migrants could deepen the diplomatic divide ahead of the upcoming U.S. midterm elections.