Too many cases: Mexico confronts U.S. over deaths of its citizens in ICE custody

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Set us as preferred MEXICO CITY — As increasing numbers of migrants perish during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has vowed to ramp up pressure on U.S.authorities to investigate the deaths.“There are too many cases,” Sheinbaum told reporters last week, referring to 17 Mexican citizens who have died while in U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody or during ICE operations.“Our obligation is to always defend Mexicans who are in the United States or whatever part of the world.”The growing toll prompted Sheinbaum last month to direct Mexican diplomats to file complaints with state attorneys general and district attorneys across the United States, demanding that prosecutors investigate deaths that occurred in their jurisdictions.“We cannot turn a blind eye to the Mexicans who have died,” Sheinbaum said following the most recent fatal incident — the ICE shooting in Houston last month of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, a construction contractor from Mexico who had lived in the United States for three decades.Mexico’s new strategy represents an escalation from the country’s traditional policy of filing protests through diplomatic channels while assisting families with legal advice, paperwork and shipping remains back to Mexico.However, to date, Mexico’s stepped-up efforts have yielded few results.There is no public confirmation of prosecutions in any of the 17 cases, despite the entreaties of the Mexican government to the U.S.

Department of Justice, eight attorneys general and 12 district attorney’s offices.“The Americans don’t seem to be paying much attention,” said Víctor Clark, a long-time human rights advocate in Tijuana.“What Mexico is doing is basically a bureaucratic step with no real response.”From a legal standpoint, Mexico fac...