Mexico has filed 20 criminal complaints across eight US states over the deaths of 17 of its nationals during immigration operations or in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since May 2025, the foreign ministry announced Wednesday.
Mexican Ambassador Roberto Lazzeri lodged the complaints on 13 July — eight with state prosecutors and 12 with county prosecutors in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas — where the deaths occurred. The Attorney General's office also transmitted a formal request to the US Justice Department via the State Department seeking investigations and status updates on all 17 cases. The legal push was announced earlier this month by President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Mexican officials met with Department of Homeland Security and ICE representatives to raise concerns about detention conditions, including at privately run facilities. Separately, Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco Álvarez sent a letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk requesting that the body seek clarifications from Washington and assess the cases against international human rights standards.