Mexico files criminal investigations for migrant deaths related to immigration enforcement

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum is demanding investigations into the deaths of 17 of her citizens in the U.S. – 14 who have died in detention centers and three who were killed during Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

She submitted her criminal complaints Monday to the Justice Department and state officials.​

The tipping point for Sheinbaum was the July 7 death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national killed by an ICE agent in Houston during a traffic stop that was part of a federal deportation-illegal immigration operation.

The 52-year-old Salgado Araujo, who was living in the U.S. illegally, was killed after ICE claimed he attempted to evade arrest, ramming his car into an ICE vehicle and refusing commands to stop.

"This was a case that outraged all Mexicans,” Sheinbaum told reporters during a Monday press conference. “As Mexicans, we must all say that there should not occur human rights violations against Mexicans abroad — not here, and not abroad.”​

She spoke the same day as the most recent ICE-involved shooting in Biddeford, Maine, marking the second deadly ICE-involved shooting in a week. As Just the News reported earlier, both incidents remain under investigation, but have reignited concerns about the administration's aggressive immigration approach.

​Sheinbaum suggested she's not concerned about whether filing the criminal complaint will hurt diplomatic relationships with the Trump administration since they "haven't resulted in anything.”

​“How could we — as a government, as Mexicans — say, ‘No, we’re not going to say anything because we don’t want there to be any problems in the relationship with President Trump’s government?’” she stated. “We have to be able to raise our voice when there are human rights violations against our countrymen and take action.”