MEXICO CITY – Mexico has begun filing criminal complaints with state prosecutors in the United States over the deaths of its citizens in US immigration custody and during enforcement operations, the foreign ministry said on July 14.
Mexico’s government has also sent cease-and-desist letters to US detention centres where Mexican nationals have died, the ministry added in a statement.
The filings follow the deaths of at least 14 Mexican nationals in ICE custody and several others during arrest operations, including the recent fatal shooting of a Mexican citizen by an ICE agent in Houston.
President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Mexico’s intention to escalate its response to the deaths on July 10, as she claimed that the government “cannot turn a blind eye to the Mexicans who have died”.
In addition to the measures in the US, Mexico’s foreign minister also contacted the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the deaths of Mexican nationals in ICE custody.
Mexico expects the UN office to gather information from US authorities, analyse the events and “refer the case to the relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council”, the statement added. REUTERS
