Mexico's government said on Thursday, November 12, that it has now sent 22 letters to prosecutors across the United States over Mexican nationals who died or were injured in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or during ICE operations, and that it has received 11 responses so far. The updated tally, announced by Mexico's Foreign Ministry, is the latest step in a legal and diplomatic campaign Mexico launched in July, when it began filing criminal complaints with American prosecutors instead of relying only on diplomatic protests.

Source: WiseVoter (reporting Mexico Foreign Ministry figures, Nov 12, 2026)

Of the 22 letters, eight were sent to state attorneys general and 14 to county prosecutors, according to the Foreign Ministry figures reported on Thursday. Mexico's embassy has contacted prosecutors in Harris County and Webb County in Texas and in Ventura County in California, among other jurisdictions where deaths or injuries occurred.

A count that has kept rising since January 2025

According to the Mexican government, 18 Mexican nationals have died in ICE custody or during ICE operations since January 2025. The most recent case to draw a formal Mexican complaint was that of Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, a 56-year-old Dallas resident who was found unconscious in his cell during a routine security round at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo, Texas, and whose death was confirmed by U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar. The Texas Tribune identified Andrade-Covarrubias as a father of three U.S.-citizen children. His death was the seventh this year in an ICE detention facility in Texas, and Mexico filed a formal complaint with the Webb County District Attorney and demanded what it called a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation.

Source: Riviera Maya News (Oct 20, 2026) and Mexico News Daily via Channel 1 LA (Nov 1, 2026)

The wider toll is larger than Mexico's national count. Human Rights Watch counted 52 deaths of people of all nationalities in ICE custody in the 500 days between January 20, 2025, and June 4, 2026 — roughly three a month — and AFP has reported that at least 30 people died in U.S. migrant detention centres last year, the most since ICE was created. The Department of Homeland Security denies that deaths in its facilities have increased and says detainees receive proper medical treatment.

From diplomatic notes to criminal complaints

Mexico's approach changed after Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, was shot and killed by an ICE agent during an operation in Houston on July 7, 2026. The Department of Homeland Security said the agent acted in self-defence after Salgado Araujo allegedly rammed an ICE vehicle — an allegation Mexico disputes — and the case became the trigger for a prosecution-first strategy ordered by President Claudia Sheinbaum. On July 13, Mexico filed 20 complaints: eight with state prosecutors and 12 with county prosecutors in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas. A day later, Mexico's Attorney General's Office filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice through the Mexican Embassy in Washington.

Source: China Daily Asia / Xinhua and Associated Press reporting (July 2026)

Mexico also began sending cease-and-desist letters to detention centres where its nationals had died. The first was addressed to the Adelanto detention centre in California, where Mexico says four of its citizens died, and the letters demand an immediate end to practices Mexico says deny prompt medical care or violate detention standards. Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco also wrote to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, asking his office to gather information from U.S. authorities, assess compliance with international obligations and issue recommendations.

The replies have come slowly. In August, Velasco said Mexico had filed 20 complaints and received responses to only four of them. One state prosecutor who did respond, in Florida, backed ICE's conduct after the death of Royer Pérez, a 19-year-old who was the youngest Mexican victim; several other prosecutors replied only to acknowledge receipt. Thursday's updated figures — 22 letters and 11 responses — show the file is moving, but half of Mexico's letters remain unanswered.

A Houston indictment, and what prosecutors can actually do

One case in Texas has already moved further than a letter. According to Thursday's reporting, the Harris County District Attorney's Office has released a grand jury indictment against an ICE agent in a Houston case involving an injured Mexican national. Local prosecutors are the decisive actors in Mexico's strategy: a grand jury indictment or a state criminal charge is the strongest step a county prosecutor can take over a death or injury inside a federal detention system, while attorneys general can open state-level investigations. Federal detention itself, and ICE's own internal reviews, remain under Washington's control, which is why Mexico is pressing at both levels at once — county and state prosecutors for criminal accountability, and the Justice Department and the United Nations for oversight.

What happens next

Mexico says the remaining 11 letters are still awaiting responses, and its consular network continues to support families and press for investigations case by case. The Harris County proceedings will be watched for whether the indictment leads to a trial, and Mexico has previously said it is preparing possible civil lawsuits against the private companies that operate detention centres, with the cease-and-desist letters described as a first step. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have not, in the reporting reviewed for this story, issued a new response to Thursday's updated tally; DHS's standing position is that detainees receive proper medical care and that deaths in custody have not increased. Any new death in custody is likely, on the pattern of the Laredo case, to produce another formal Mexican complaint within days.