Mexico Moves to Bring Criminal Charges Over 17 Deaths Tied to ICE After a Houston Man Is Shot Dead

Mexico said Thursday that it will formally request criminal charges over the deaths of 17 of its citizens who died in U.S. immigration custody or during enforcement operations, a dramatic escalation of tensions with the Trump administration that came just two days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a Mexican man in Houston.

Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco announced the decision at a morning news conference in Mexico City, saying the government would submit its requests to state prosecutors' offices and to the U.S. Department of Justice, asking them to weigh charges against the officers and officials responsible. According to the Mexican government, 14 of the 17 died while in ICE custody and three were killed during enforcement operations.

The immediate trigger was the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Houston early on July 7. Salgado Araujo, who had lived in the United States for decades, was driving a work crew to a housing construction site when he was stopped. According to Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat who represents part of Houston, he was not the target of the operation. "They never gave him a warning," Garcia said, questioning the agency's account of the shooting.

The Department of Homeland Security has said the officer fired in self-defense, alleging that Salgado Araujo tried to ram an ICE vehicle and drove toward an agent before he was shot. That version of events has been disputed by his family and by local officials, who are demanding an independent investigation. New surveillance video that surfaced this week has intensified questions about how the encounter unfolded and prompted street protests in the predominantly Latino neighborhood where he lived.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum framed the move as a matter of national dignity. "We are going to do everything in our power, because we cannot stand silent" in the face of the deaths of Mexicans "whose only crime is working honestly in the United States," she said. Sheinbaum's government has sharply criticized the treatment of Mexican nationals under President Trump's push to sharply increase deportations.

Velasco acknowledged that the request "carries no legal weight" on its own and that decisions on whether to prosecute rest with American authorities. Alongside the criminal referrals, Mexico said it would file civil lawsuits against the private companies that operate several U.S. immigration detention centers, arguing that conditions inside the facilities amount to human rights violations. The twin actions mark one of the most confrontational steps Mexico has taken against Washington's immigration enforcement since Trump returned to office, and they set up a fraught diplomatic standoff between two governments that remain deeply intertwined on trade, security and migration.