President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo announced on Wednesday that Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs will file a series of legal complaints in the United States concerning the deaths of 17 Mexican citizens over recent years.
The cases will be brought before both the U.S. Department of Justice and various state-level prosecutors’ offices.
The decision, Sheinbaum explained during her morning press conference, was prompted in part by the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was fatally shot on July 7 by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Houston, Texas.
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Both the Houston city government and the U.S. federal government are already investigating that incident, the president noted.
She added that Foreign Secretary Roberto Velasco has formally communicated Mexico’s position to U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson, who she described as receptive to the Mexican government’s concerns over alleged human rights violations against its citizens, both those held in detention facilities and those killed during ICE operations.
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Sheinbaum emphasized that the matter extends beyond the executive branch, calling on political parties, civil society, and the permanent commission of the Congress of the Union to join in solidarity with Mexicans living in the United States.
She also urged lawmakers to formally request information and publicly reject any human rights abuses affecting Mexican nationals abroad.
“This is not solely a matter for the Government of Mexico,” Sheinbaum said. “While we bear the responsibility to demand the protection of life and human rights for Mexicans everywhere, particularly in the United States, it is a concern that belongs to all Mexicans.”
