Mexico to File Criminal Complaints in U.S. Over 17 Nationals Who Died in ICE Custody or Operations

Since this outlet covered the Houston shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on July 8, Mexico's government has moved decisively from diplomacy to criminal legal action against the United States.

Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco announced Thursday at a press conference that Mexico will file criminal complaints directly with U.S. prosecutors over the deaths of 17 Mexican nationals: 14 who died in ICE custody and 3 killed during arrest operations, according to Reuters. That number has accumulated since January 2025, when President Trump returned to office and accelerated immigration enforcement.

"We are going to move beyond the diplomatic sphere and go directly to U.S. prosecutors to file complaints regarding these incidents, requesting that they are investigated as criminal matters," Velasco said.

What Mexico Has Done So Far

Earlier this year, Mexico already took several steps. President Claudia Sheinbaum requested a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and filed an amicus brief in a federal lawsuit over conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center outside Los Angeles, according to KJZZ. At least four of the Mexican nationals who died in ICE custody were held at that facility.

Sheinbaum said Wednesday that Mexico can no longer limit itself to diplomatic notes. "We can't permit the mistreatment of our people in the United States," she said. The Salgado Araujo shooting, which brought the number of people shot dead during immigration enforcement operations since January 2025 to at least six, appears to have been the catalyst for the harder line.

The Salgado Araujo Case: Competing Accounts

The Department of Homeland Security says Salgado Araujo ignored verbal commands and attempted to ram an ICE officer with his vehicle, striking an ICE vehicle before the officer fired in self-defense. DHS released a written statement Tuesday but has NOT released video of the shooting or images documenting vehicle damage, according to CBS News.

The family's account differs sharply. His son Ronaldo Salgado said at a Wednesday press conference that his father was driving a crew to a homebuilding site when he was killed. Salgado Araujo had no criminal convictions during 35 years living in the U.S., according to Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia. He had three American citizen sons, all of whom he sent to college, and had been working toward legal status, his son said.

"He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of Mexican man shot and killed by ICE," Ronaldo Salgado said.

A bystander video recorded by Juliet Martinez shows a black vehicle angled toward a white van with doors open, a bleeding handcuffed man on the ground, and at least three other handcuffed men surrounded by federal officers. The video does not clearly resolve the sequence of events. Three men detained at the scene, including Salgado Araujo's brother, have not been heard from since, according to his son.

The Strongest Case for the Government's Position

The DHS account cannot simply be dismissed. ICE officers regularly operate in high-risk environments where subjects resist arrest, and a vehicle can be a lethal weapon. If Salgado Araujo did attempt to drive at an officer, the use of deadly force would be legally defensible under standard law enforcement protocols. The FBI, which took over the Houston investigation per prior reporting, is the appropriate body to make that determination, not a press conference.

The public cannot evaluate competing claims without evidence. Federal officials have released no footage, no photographs of vehicle damage, and no timeline of commands issued. In a prior case cited by CBS News, Border Patrol agents' account of the shooting of Minnesota ICU nurse Alex Pretti was contradicted by bystander video and witness testimony after top Trump administration officials had publicly defended the agents' version. That precedent makes the demand for video from the Salgado Araujo family and civil rights groups a reasonable one, not merely a political maneuver.

What Happens Next

The DHS and DOJ did not respond to Reuters' request for comment on Mexico's criminal complaint announcement as of Thursday. No charges have been filed against any ICE officer in connection with any of the 17 deaths Mexico has catalogued, and no federal investigation of the ICE officer involved in the Houston shooting has been publicly announced beyond the FBI's standard review.

Mexico's move to file criminal complaints with U.S. prosecutors is largely untested as a diplomatic tool. Whether any U.S. federal or state prosecutor will open a criminal case against an active federal agent acting under a lawful warrant is a genuinely open question. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights hearing request Mexico submitted earlier this year also remains pending.

The three men detained alongside Salgado Araujo, including his brother, have not been publicly located or accounted for, according to his family. That question has received no federal response as of July 9.