The Mexican government announced on Monday that it will be taking “protest measures” against the United States following a new “unacceptable” incident involving a Mexican national during his detention by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in California. According to the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the death of José Ramos brings the total number of Mexicans who have died under the responsibility of ICE or during anti-immigration raids during Donald Trump’s second term to 14.
As part of President Trump’s anti-immigrant offensive, ICE has faced strong criticism, especially after two Americans were killed in January by federal agents in Minneapolis during protests against the agency’s presence in the city.
“We will take several protest measures in response to the death of a new Mexican, one of our compatriots, in the United States,” said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during her daily press conference. Mexico will “exhaust all legal, diplomatic, and multilateral channels to seek justice,” added Vanessa Calva Ruiz, the director of Mexico’s consular protection, during a press conference in Los Angeles on Monday.
The country will join as an amicus curiae (a legal position allowing for providing information in a trial without being a party) in a complaint filed by NGOs on January 26 in the U.S. regarding detention conditions. Mexico believes that these deaths, “the repetition and frequency of which are absolutely unacceptable,” “reflect systemic failures, operational shortcomings, and potential negligence, contrary to U.S. protocols and regulations, as well as international human rights standards,” the official responsible for protecting Mexicans abroad stated.
José Ramos, a 52-year-old Mexican, was detained at the Adelanto center in California, where he was found “unconscious and unresponsive,” according to ICE’s online statement on Monday. “Life-saving measures” were administered before he was transferred to a hospital in Victorville, where his death was confirmed on March 25.
The ICE report identified José Ramos as an “illegal criminal alien from Mexico,” a characterization that lawyer Jesús Arias deemed “premature” and “offensive.” Arias announced legal actions on behalf of Ramos’s family and stated that a private investigation had been opened to determine the cause of his death. According to ICE, Ramos had been convicted in August for “drug possession and theft.”
“He did not deserve to die like this,” said his wife Antonia Tovar, who attended the press conference with her children. The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had made this incident public between Friday and Saturday night, urged the U.S. to ensure “these lamentable cases do not recur.” They also called for “an immediate inspection of the Adelanto center, due to serious omissions and clear deficiencies in the provision of medical care to individuals under its custody.”
President Claudia Sheinbaum assured that “more demands” will be made to U.S. authorities. This will not be “business as usual,” she said, in reference to measures such as sending diplomatic notes. According to official U.S. data, 14 migrants of various nationalities have died while in ICE custody since the beginning of 2026, including José Ramos. At least 30 people died in this manner in 2025, the highest number since 2004, the year ICE was created.
