Mexico to file criminal complaints in US over deaths of Mexicans in immigration enforcement

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's government plans to file criminal complaints in the U.S. regarding Mexican citizens who died in immigration custody or while being targeted in anti-immigration operations, Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said on Thursday.

Fourteen Mexican nationals have lost their lives while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and three more died in arrest operations conducted by the agency, Velasco told a press conference.

"We are going to move beyond the diplomatic sphere and go directly to U.S. prosecutors to file complaints regarding these incidents, requesting that they are investigated as criminal matters," Velasco said.

On Tuesday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, a Mexican national living in the U.S. illegally for three decades.

His killing, which sparked protests in Houston, brought to at least six the number of people shot dead in immigration enforcement operations since January 2025, when President Donald Trump returned to office and launched a campaign of mass deportations.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Raul Cortes; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 10:00 AM.