President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Monday that her government will file formal complaints with the US Department of Justice and state prosecutors to seek investigations into the deaths of 17 Mexican nationals in detention centres and during Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.

The move follows the death of Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot during an ICE operation in Houston, Texas, on July 7, 2026.

"Today the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will present the complaints before the United States Department of Justice and the state prosecutors' offices in the United States over the death of 17 fellow nationals, among them the latest one who was practically killed," Sheinbaum said during her morning press conference at the National Palace.

She said the government decided to pursue legal action after repeated diplomatic exchanges with US authorities failed to produce results.

"We cannot simply continue with diplomatic letters that have not produced results. That is why we are now calling on the Department of Justice to investigate whoever is responsible," she stressed.

According to Sheinbaum, the complaints seek to establish how the Mexican nationals died while in immigration detention and during ICE operations.

"An investigation that says why Mexicans died in detention centres, what the cause is, and at the same time, three Mexicans who have already died in ICE operations," she said.

The Mexican president insisted the legal action is part of the government's responsibility to protect its citizens abroad and is not intended to damage relations with Washington.

"I believe it is the obligation of any government to establish a defence of its fellow nationals abroad. It does not signal a situation in which we want to affect the relationship between Mexico and the United States," Sheinbaum said.

She added that cooperation with the United States on trade and security would continue, while Mexico would keep demanding investigations whenever it believed the rights of its citizens had been violated. She also called for national unity in defending Mexicans living both at home and abroad.