Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

• ⚖️ Mexico to pursue criminal and civil action over deaths of Mexicans in ICE custody and ICE operations: Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco reported that 17 Mexicans have died in ICE detention centers or ICE operations since the start of the second Trump administration, most recently Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot by an ICE officer in Houston on Tuesday. Velasco said Mexico has sent 11 diplomatic notes of protest and raised the issue with the U.N. and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, but that President Sheinbaum has now instructed officials to take “forceful legal actions,” including criminal complaints filed directly with U.S. state and federal prosecutors and civil cease-and-desist letters against the private companies that operate ICE detention centers.
• 🗣️ Sheinbaum: complaints will target those responsible for “what we consider to be homicides”: Asked to clarify who the complaints would target, Sheinbaum said the government would file criminal complaints with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices against those responsible for deaths it considers homicides, and separate complaints over human rights violations in other cases where poor detention conditions contributed to deaths. She said her government would do “everything in our hands” to defend Mexicans in the U.S., including those held in privately run ICE facilities.
• 📉 Annual inflation falls to 3.37% in June: Sheinbaum noted headline inflation continued its decline from a 2026 high of 4.59% in March to 4.45% in April, 3.94% in May and 3.37% in June — just above the Bank of Mexico’s 3% target — calling the June figure “even better” than the estimate she gave the previous day.

Why today’s mañanera matters

President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Thursday morning press conference was significant as Mexico’s foreign affairs minister presented new actions the Mexican government will take in response to the death of Mexican nationals in immigration detention centers in the United States and in operations carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The presentation of the new actions comes two days after a Mexican man was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Houston, Texas.

Sheinbaum has long expressed her opposition to the aggressive deportation campaign the Trump administration has pursued since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House in early 2025. On Wednesday, she said that “the only offense” of Mexicans who have died in ICE detention centers was “not yet” having immigration papers.

On Thursday morning, the federal government once again made it clear that defending the rights of Mexicans in the United States — whether they have legal immigration status or not — is a priority.

Also of note at today’s mañanera was Sheinbaum’s acknowledgement that inflation in Mexico once again declined in June.

Velasco presents new government ‘actions’ in response to the deaths of Mexicans in ICE custody  

Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco told reporters that, during the second Trump administration, 17 Mexicans have died in ICE detention centers or in operations carried out by the agency. The most recent death was that of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot by an ICE officer in Houston on Tuesday. A total of 14 Mexicans have died in ICE immigration centers in 2025 and 2026, while three were killed in ICE operations, according to the information presented by Velasco.

The foreign minister said that 58 deaths of foreigners in ICE detention centers have been “publicly reported” in 2025 and 2026.

Velasco noted that the Mexican government has provided a range of assistance and support to the families of Mexicans who have died in the United States under ICE custody. He also highlighted that the government has sent “11 formal diplomatic notes of protest” to the U.S. government, “demanding the clarification of the events” related to the deaths of Mexicans under ICE custody or in ICE operations.

Velasco said that the U.S. government has responded to that communication, telling its Mexican counterpart that investigations are being carried out.

He also said that the Mexican government “formally set out the seriousness of the situation” to U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk during his visit to Mexico in April. Velasco noted that Türk subsequently made a statement on the matter. In late June, the high commissioner “urged prompt action to prevent further loss of life in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and called for independent investigations into all deaths under ICE custody,” according to a U.N. press release.

Velasco also noted that the Mexican government formally asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to conduct a review of cases involving the deaths of Mexicans in the custody of ICE.

He subsequently said that “the president has instructed us to commence forceful legal actions to respond to this very painful tragedy we’re going through.”

Velasco said that the Foreign Affairs Ministry would ask for assistance from the Federal Attorney General’s Office to present criminal complaints in the United States against “whoever is responsible” for the deaths of Mexicans under ICE custody or in ICE operations.

“We’re going to leave the diplomatic domain in order to go directly to U.S. attorney’s offices to file complaints about these events, requesting investigations in the criminal domain,” the foreign minister said.

He also said that the Mexican government would commence “civil actions against companies that operate ICE detention centers. Velasco said the government would send “cease and desist letters” to those companies, asking them to put an end to “actions and conditions” that violate people’s human rights and which “led to the deaths of 14 Mexicans.”

“… These cease and desist letters are a legal mechanism that exists in the United States,” he said.

Velasco also said that the government, along with Mexican civil society organizations, would present a request to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking for “the protection of Mexicans in detention centers” in the United States.

In addition, he said that the government would ask Volker Türk, once again, to seek “the protection of Mexicans in ICE detention centers.”

“… Apart from this, naturally we’re going to continue the communication with the [U.S.] Department of State, with the Department of Homeland Security and with different U.S. authorities,” Velasco said.

“The president has asked for that to be a priority,” he said.

La presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum lamentó la muerte de connacionales relacionadas con el ICE, e informó que se presentarán denuncias ante las fiscalías estatales y la fiscalía federal de Estados Unidos. pic.twitter.com/71OusT4HCZ

— NMás (@nmas) July 9, 2026

Velasco said that he had also asked Mexico’s new ambassador to the United States, Roberto Lazzeri, to seek “immediate” meetings with U.S. authorities “to continue attending to this issue.”

He said that the defense of Mexicans in ICE custody is currently “the most important” issue for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The priority of our work is always the defense of the human rights of our compatriots and for that reason we’re initiating these legal actions,” Velasco said.

Sheinbaum: Mexico will file complaints against those responsible for ‘what we consider to be homicides’

A reporter asked the president to clarify against whom the Mexican government will file its criminal complaints in the United States.

Referring to the death of Salgado in Houston on Tuesday, Sheinbaum said that “due to what happened recently — the death of a Mexican in an ICE operation — … we took the decision … to file complaints with state Attorney General’s Offices and the Office of the U.S. Attorney General against whoever turns out to be responsible for what we consider to be homicides [in some cases].”

In “other cases” in which Mexicans have died under ICE custody, complaints will be filed against those responsible for violating their human rights, she said. The Mexican government has asserted that poor conditions in detention centers in the United States and a lack of care for people in ICE custody has caused or at least contributed to the deaths of Mexicans.

Sheinbaum said that her government would do “everything in our hands” to defend Mexicans in the United States.

“We can’t turn a blind eye to Mexicans who have died in ICE operations or who are detained in these detention centers that are operated by private companies contracted by ICE,” she said.

“That’s why we’re undertaking more actions,” Sheinbaum said.

Annual inflation fell to 3.37% in June

Near the end of her press conference, Sheinbaum noted that Mexico’s annual headline inflation rate fell to 3.37% in March, just above the Bank of Mexico’s 3% target.

Inflation increased in each of the first three months of the year to reach an annual rate of 4.59% in March. Inflation subsequently declined to 4.45% in April, 3.94% in May and 3.37% in June.

The rate in June, Sheinbaum said, is “even better than what we said [it would be] yesterday.”

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)