These are the 17 Mexicans whose ICE-related deaths prompted Mexico to demand accountability

Mexico Seeks Justice After Seventeen Nationals Perish in US Immigration Enforcement

These are the 17 Mexicans whose – Seventeen Mexican citizens have lost their lives during immigration operations conducted under the administration of President Donald Trump during his second term in office. According to official records from Mexico, these tragic deaths have intensified diplomatic friction between the two neighboring nations. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly expressed her sorrow, noting that the entire nation felt the grief experienced by the families of the deceased.

Beginning on Monday, Mexican authorities initiated a series of legal actions. Complaints were filed with both state and federal prosecutors in the United States, requesting formal criminal investigations into the circumstances surrounding each death. Additionally, cease-and-desist correspondence was dispatched to private corporations operating detention facilities where several of these Mexican nationals had passed away.

Details of the Fatal Incidents

Official statements from both Mexican and American authorities indicate that fourteen of the deceased men died while in the custody of immigration enforcement agencies. These fatalities occurred either within detention centers or in medical institutions where the individuals had been transferred for treatment. The remaining three individuals perished during active immigration enforcement operations in the field.

The latest tragedy involves Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a fifty-two-year-old construction professional who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during an operation in Houston last week.

Profiles of the Deceased

Abelardo Avellaneda Delgado, aged sixty-eight, passed away on May 5, 2025, during transport from Lowndes County jail to the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. ICE reported that a medical complication was the preliminary cause of death. The agency noted that he had resided in the United States for decades as an undocumented immigrant and had been detained numerous times since 1979. Although a judge ordered his deportation in 1990, he subsequently returned to the country. ICE claims he faced charges spanning from marijuana possession to family violence and cruelty toward children.

Jesús Molina Veya, forty-five years old, was discovered unconscious in his cell at the Stewart Detention Center on June 7, 2025, with a ligature around his neck. He was transported to a hospital where he later died. According to ICE, he had entered the United States multiple times as an undocumented immigrant and was deported four times. The agency states he was charged with simple assault, child abuse, and unlawful restraint, serving 827 days in jail for these offenses.

Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas, thirty-two, died on August 31, 2025, while in immigration custody. ICE reported that he suffered from diabetes, contracted Covid-19 during detention, and experienced respiratory problems before being found unresponsive despite resuscitation efforts. He entered the US as an undocumented immigrant on an unspecified date. Between 2018 and 2025, he was detained several times for drug-related offenses and driving under the influence, receiving a ten-day confinement sentence in 2024 for DUI.

Óscar Rascón Duarte, fifty-eight, died on September 8, 2025, at Banner Desert Medical Center in Arizona. ICE stated he suffered from advanced-stage Alzheimer’s disease, right kidney cancer, and hepatitis C. He entered the United States in 1976 as an undocumented immigrant and was deported in 2004, but re-entered the country on the same day he was removed to Mexico. Between 1984 and 2000, he faced accusations including burglary, theft, and drug possession. In 2005, he received a twenty-year prison sentence for attempted sexual contact with a minor and child abuse, completing his term in January 2025 when immigration proceedings against him resumed.

Ismael Ayala Uribe, thirty-nine, died on September 22, 2025, in a California hospital following cardiac arrest. According to ICE, the Mexican national, who was hypertensive and presented abnormal tachycardia, was referred on September 21 at noon to Victor Valley Global Medical Center for an abscess on his buttock and was subsequently found unresponsive.

Government Response and Denials

In an email communication with CNN, the US Department of Homeland Security rejected claims of rising fatalities within its facilities and operations. The department assured the public that detained individuals receive full due process and are provided with proper meals, water, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers. DHS also denied that its officials committed any abuses during this period.

These seventeen cases have prompted Mexico’s government to significantly strengthen its diplomatic and legal response to immigration enforcement practices in the United States.