CHICAGO () — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her administration are signaling a tougher response to a troubling series of deaths involving Mexican nationals in U.S. immigration custody or during enforcement operations.
Mexican officials have pointed to 17 deaths tied to immigration enforcement in the United States and say they are preparing to pursue criminal complaints against those they believe are responsible.
The full list of those who died has not been made public. However, the ABC7 I-Team has learned that one of the 17 cases occurred in Illinois. Silverio Villegas-Gonzales was shot and killed by an ICE agent during Operation Midway Blitz in Franklin Park last September.
According to ICE, the agent involved had been targeting Villegas-Gonzalez when he allegedly refused law enforcement commands and drove his vehicle toward officers. At the time, the Department of Homeland Security said the officer was struck and seriously injured, adding that, “Fearing for his own life, the officer fired his weapon.” Villegas-Gonzalez was killed.
But body camera footage obtained by the I-Team appeared to complicate that account. In the video, the federal agent who fired the shot described his own injuries as nothing major.
The Franklin Park shooting from 10 months ago has drawn renewed attention because of another fatal ICE shooting involving a Mexican national, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, in Houston, Texas. ICE initially said Salgado Araujo was involved in a targeted enforcement operation and had rammed his vehicle into an ICE vehicle while refusing orders to stop before he was shot. The agency later said he was not the target of any enforcement operation.
Mexico’s government told ABC News it has sent 11 diplomatic notes to the United States regarding the deaths of Mexican citizens. Along with pursuing new legal options, Mexican officials said they plan to contact the United Nations Human Rights Commission about deaths connected to immigration enforcement.
