MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥� formally requested that U.S. state attorneys general criminally investigate in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody or during raids, the Mexican government said Tuesday.
The request follows the , who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston. Since the beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 second term, 17 Mexican migrants have died during immigration enforcement, and three in agency operations.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry had , which was formalized on Tuesday, according to the ministry. It said a similar request will be also sent to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The United States is not legally obliged to act on the requests.
Also, the Mexican government said it has started sending letters to U.S. detention centers where Mexican migrants have died, demanding they 鈥渋mmediately cease the actions or omissions that resulted in these deaths, such as preventing access to prompt and expedited medical care, as well as the application of policies incompatible with medical and penitentiary standards.鈥�
The first center to receive the letter was .
The letters are a first step toward 鈥渢he eventual filing of civil lawsuits鈥� against the companies that operate the detention centers to stop human rights violations, according to the ministry.
Last week, Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said his country would go directly to U.S. authorities to request criminal investigations in cases of Mexicans killed in ICE custody or enforcement operations.
who had no criminal record and had lived in the U.S. for 35 years, was shot last Tuesday while driving his construction crew to a job site in Houston. His death sparked protests in Houston and demands for an independent investigation from Democrats and Salgado Araujo鈥檚 family.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said the 52-year-old Araujo had rammed an ICE vehicle, and that a federal agent fired a weapon in self-defense.
Velasco also sent a letter to Volker T眉rk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, requesting that U.S. authorities gather information on the deaths of the Mexican migrants in ICE custody and analyze the 鈥渃ompatibility of these events with international human rights obligations.鈥�
The foreign minister also asked T眉rk to seek the opinion of the Human Rights Council, a U.N. intergovernmental body that promotes human rights, on the cases and offer recommendations.
The developments mark an escalation in Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum鈥檚 response to Trump鈥檚 immigration crackdown. Sheinbaum earlier this year ordered Mexico’s diplomatic missions across the U.S. to regularly check in with ICE detainees, and her government even lodged a complaint with T眉rk.
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