Mexico to file complaints with U.S. Justice Department and state prosecutors over human rights violations

On July 13, President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that Mexico will file complaints today with the U.S. Department of Justice and state prosecutors over the murder of 17 Mexican nationals at the hands of U.S. immigration authorities.

Among the cases is the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Houston. Currently, his death is under investigation by U.S. local and federal authorities.

Sheinbaum also said the complaints respond to Mexico’s concern over human rights violations against Mexican nationals in detention centers and the deaths of three Mexican citizens during ICE operations. The outrage was compounded by ICE agents just dragging the body of Araujo, killed minutes earlier, and dropping it on the pavement while still handcuffed.

The Mexican president also called on Congress, political parties and society to support the defense of migrants in the United States. “It is not only an issue for the Mexican government. It is an issue for each and every Mexican,” Sheinbaum said, urging Congress to take a position on the matter.

“I call on the Permanent Commission of the Congress to have all political parties, without exception, also submit a request for information and express our rejection of the violation of the human rights of Mexicans in the United States,” she said, insisting that protecting Mexicans abroad should be a national cause.

“We have a responsibility to demand the preservation of life and the protection of the human rights of Mexicans around the world, and particularly in the United States,” she said.

The announcement expands on the strategy outlined by Sheinbaum last week to go “beyond” diplomatic notes and pursue legal action following the death of Salgado Araujo.

In addition to that case, multiple Mexican nationals have died in immigration detention centers and during operations conducted by U.S. authorities since the tightening of immigration policies promoted by President Donald Trump.

This comes as ICE agents on Monday murdered Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a documented Colombian living and working in the small town of Biddeford, Maine.

Source: Telesur, via Resumen English