Mexico's Sheinbaum files US lawsuits over 17 migrant deaths

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced that the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores will file criminal complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice and state prosecutors over the deaths of 17 Mexican nationals in the custody of ICE or during immigration operations. The complaints cite cases such as the recent shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas, which is under investigation by local and federal authorities.

Sheinbaum stressed that the action is not meant to provoke conflict with the United States but to defend the rights of Mexican citizens abroad. She called on the Mexican Congress, the Comisión Permanente, all political parties and Mexican society to support the demand for transparent investigations and to reject violations of human rights. The government has already sent diplomatic notes of protest and will pursue both criminal and civil actions against the agencies and private contractors involved in the detention centers.