Mexico files complaints after 17 nationals die in U.S. immigration custody or operations
Seventeen Mexican citizens died while in ICE detention or during enforcement actions, prompting Mexico to request criminal investigations and issue cease-and-desist letters to private detention operators.
Mexico has lodged formal complaints with U.S. state and federal prosecutors and sent cease-and-desist letters to private companies that run detention facilities after 17 Mexican nationals died in immigration custody or during ICE operations. The deaths, which occurred between May 2025 and July 2026, include 14 individuals who died while detained in facilities or medical centers and three who were killed during enforcement actions.
The most recent case involved Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old construction worker who was shot by an ICE officer in Houston last week. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the nation shares the pain of the families and condemned the fatalities.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security responded by stating that there has been no increase in deaths in its facilities, asserting that detainees receive due process, adequate food, water, medical care and access to family and legal counsel, and denying any abuse by officials.
The list of the deceased includes individuals who had lived in the United States for decades, some with prior criminal convictions, and others who were DACA recipients or first-time entrants. Causes of death range from medical complications and cardiac arrest to suicide, accidental falls, and shootings by agents. Investigations into several cases remain ongoing, and Mexican authorities are seeking accountability through the U.S. legal system.