Mexico City, Mexico, July 13, 2026 — Mexico moved Monday to place the deaths of 17 Mexican nationals into U.S. criminal justice channels, escalating a dispute that had previously been handled through diplomatic protests and widening its action to include private companies operating immigration detention centers.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said the Foreign Affairs Ministry would present complaints to the U.S. Department of Justice and prosecutors in the states where the deaths occurred. Mexico’s official account of the legal strategy identifies 14 Mexican citizens who died while in immigration detention and three who died during enforcement operations.
The complaints ask U.S. authorities to investigate possible criminal responsibility and human-rights violations. They do not establish that every death was unlawful, nor do they require American prosecutors to bring charges.
The 17 cases cover different circumstances, including medical emergencies inside detention centers, deaths reported as suicides and fatal encounters with immigration agents. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement publishes summaries and detailed reports through its detainee death reporting system, but Mexico says repeated requests have not produced adequate explanations or accountability.
Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco said Mexico had already sent 11 formal diplomatic notes seeking investigations. The government is now asking Mexican federal prosecutors to help submit complaints directly to the U.S. Justice Department and the appropriate state authorities.
Mexico plans to send cease-and-desist letters to companies operating facilities where Mexican nationals died, asking them to end practices or conditions that may have contributed to the deaths. The letters begin a potential civil process but are not findings of liability.
A review of ICE records by La Jornada found that nine of the 14 custody deaths occurred in facilities operated by GEO Group or CoreCivic. One additional Mexican national died during a transfer handled by GEO Group.
Four of the deaths were connected to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, which is operated by GEO Group. Mexico had already requested an immediate inspection of the facility in March, citing what the Foreign Affairs Ministry described as serious omissions and deficiencies in medical care.
The business surrounding immigration detention has expanded rapidly alongside enforcement operations.
CoreCivic reported that its revenue from ICE reached $261.3 million in the first quarter of 2026, up from $133.2 million in the same period last year. The company attributed the increase to the activation of additional detention facilities and higher occupancy.
GEO Group reported first-quarter revenue of $705.2 million, up 17 percent from a year earlier, while net income nearly doubled to $38.3 million. The company said contracts entered into during 2025 contributed to its growth.
Those financial disclosures do not demonstrate that either company was responsible for a death. They show the scale of the federal contracts now being challenged through Mexico’s civil strategy and the amount of detention capacity controlled by companies outside the direct management of the U.S. government.
The July 7 killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston pushed the dispute into a more confrontational stage.
The 52-year-old Mexican national was driving a work crew through the Magnolia Park neighborhood when ICE agents pursued and stopped his van. The Department of Homeland Security said Salgado attempted to evade officers, used the vehicle as a weapon and was shot by an agent acting in self-defense.
Three Mexican passengers who were inside the van have given a different account. They said no agent was standing in the path of the vehicle and that the shots were fired from its side.
The Harris County medical examiner classified Salgado’s death as a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the torso. A homicide classification means the death resulted from another person’s actions; it does not by itself establish that a crime was committed.
ICE’s interim director also acknowledged that Salgado was not the person agents originally intended to locate. The officers involved were not wearing body cameras, leaving investigators dependent on witness accounts, nearby surveillance recordings and other physical evidence.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has begun gathering evidence, while federal authorities are conducting separate reviews. Mexico cannot direct those investigations, but its complaint could require prosecutors to formally assess evidence supplied by the Mexican government, Salgado’s family and consular officials.
The Department of Homeland Security has rejected claims that current enforcement policies have produced a higher death rate in detention. It told Reuters that detainees receive food, water, medical treatment, access to attorneys and opportunities to communicate with relatives. The Justice Department had not publicly responded to Mexico’s announcement.
Mexico has also requested protective measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and intervention from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Those proceedings are separate from the U.S. criminal complaints and carry different enforcement limits.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry has not released copies of the complaints or identified every private company that will receive a civil notice. It also remains unclear which state prosecutors have agreed to review the individual cases.
Mexican families trying to locate a person in U.S. immigration custody or request consular assistance can contact the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s 24-hour CIAM assistance center at 520-623-7874 from the United States or 001-520-623-7874 from Mexico. PVDN previously reported on the activation of Mexican consular support during immigration operations in California.
