Mexico has filed 20 complaints with prosecutors in the United States over the deaths of 17 Mexican citizens during operations or while in custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since May 2025
MEXICO CITY — Mexico has filed 20 complaints with prosecutors in the United States over the deaths of 17 Mexican citizens during operations or while in custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since May 2025, Mexico's Foreign Ministry has said.
In a statement issued on Wednesday (local time), the ministry said Mexican Ambassador to the United States Roberto Lazzeri filed eight complaints with state prosecutors and 12 with county prosecutors on July 13 in jurisdictions where the deaths occurred, including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas.
The ministry said the complaints were part of legal actions aimed at clarifying the cases.
It said the Mexican Embassy also submitted a complaint prepared by Mexico's Attorney General's Office to the US Department of Justice on July 14, formally requesting investigations and updates on their progress, according to Xinhua news agency.
Lazzeri also met with officials from the US Department of Homeland Security and ICE to express Mexico's concern over conditions in detention centres, including those operated by private companies, and to request clarification of each case.
Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco also sent a letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, asking his office to gather information, assess the cases under international human rights instruments and issue technical recommendations.
The Foreign Ministry said that Mexico's consular network continues to provide legal support and assistance to the families of the deceased, including help with the repatriation of remains and other requested procedures.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum again questioned the US role in the 2024 arrest of drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who was taken from Mexico by plane and sentenced Monday to life in prison in New York.
The US government has said it did not take part in an operation to arrest Zambada, a co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, on Mexican territory.
"Why are they showing a plane -- at a fair -- as if it were part of their operation, when the official version is that they did not participate? It is a contradiction," Sheinbaum said at her daily press conference, referring to the aircraft used to transport Zambada into the United States in July 2024.
She said Washington had not provided enough information to clarify the arrest, which Mexico says helped trigger a wave of violence in the northwestern state of Sinaloa.