Mexico has formally initiated criminal complaints with US state attorneys general and the Department of Justice over the deaths of 17 Mexican nationals in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or during enforcement operations. The foreign ministry in Mexico City confirmed on Tuesday that it had also begun sending cease-and-desist letters to detention centres where fatalities occurred, starting with the Adelanto facility in California, and had requested the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to examine the cases. The move follows the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old who had lived in the United States for 35 years, by an ICE agent in Houston last week.

According to the Mexican government, the complaints are an investigative step that could lead to civil lawsuits against the operators of detention centres. The cease-and-desist letters demand an immediate halt to practices that allegedly contributed to the deaths, including denial of prompt medical care and policies incompatible with medical and penitentiary standards. President Claudia Sheinbaum, speaking in Mexico City, said the actions did not signal a shift in bilateral relations with Washington but were necessary because “we cannot turn a blind eye” to human rights violations. She also called for domestic political unity on the issue, though the leaders of the opposition PAN and PRI parties issued separate statements criticising her government, even as the Senate’s cross-party leadership signed a joint condemnation of the deaths.

Viewed from Washington, the US is under no legal obligation to act on the requests. The Department of Homeland Security has stated that the agent who shot Salgado Araujo fired in self-defence after the victim rammed an ICE vehicle. The incident has sparked protests in Houston and demands from Democratic lawmakers for an independent investigation. Separately, a Colombian national was shot dead by an ICE agent in Maine this week, with the agency initially claiming the man used his car as a weapon, though a witness told Agence France-Presse that the victim appeared to have tried to stop. Mexican diplomatic sources indicate that the foreign ministry expects the UN human rights office to gather information from US authorities, assess compliance with international obligations, and refer the matter to the Human Rights Council’s special procedures.

Mexican political observers note that the government’s appeal to the UN comes after years of public criticism of international bodies by former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who once declared the organisation “useless.” The current administration, however, has framed the engagement as a necessary escalation after diplomatic channels proved insufficient. The foreign ministry said the actions represent the investigation phase, a prerequisite for any future judicial proceedings. The UN high commissioner’s office has been asked to formulate recommendations, while Mexico’s consular network continues to accompany the families of the deceased.