The government of Mexico on Monday condemned the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and voiced concerns about the deaths of its citizens in immigration detention facilities in the United States.
Top Mexican officials on Monday, including President Claudia Sheinbaum and diplomats in Los Angeles, vowed to take legal steps to pressure the Trump Administration over conditions in detention facilities, including what lawyers and detainees have described as poor drinking water and inadequate medical care.
The rebukes from Mexico came after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency announced on Monday that another Mexican man had died on Wednesday at a detention facility in California.
The man, Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, 51, had been in custody since late February, and, according to a news release from ICE, had suffered from diabetes and hypertension. He died in Adelanto, Calif., about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, after being found unconscious in his bunk and taken to a hospital.
“He received constant medical care while he was in custody, including daily medication to treat his illness,” ICE said in a statement. The Department of Homeland Security has maintained that its detainees receive adequate medical care and nutrition.
Mexican officials did not directly dispute the administration’s account of Mr. Romas-Solano’s death. But Jesus Eduardo Arias, a lawyer for the Ramos family, said that he was conducting a “forensic, independent investigation,” to determine the cause of death.
Vanessa Calva Ruis, Mexico’s director general for consular protection and strategic planning, said that Mr. Ramos-Solano’s death “is not an isolated case, but rather a reflection of an alarming and unacceptable trend.”
She said Mexico “will exhaust all legal, diplomatic and multilateral avenues to demand justice.”
The Mexican consulate in Los Angeles said Mr. Ramos-Solano was the 14th Mexican national to die in ICE custody since Mr. Trump took office, and that four of those deaths occurred in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
Antonia Tovar, his mother, wept on the dais as she described the family’s quest for answers. His death “does not only leave me in pain, it leaves his children and his mother and his siblings in pain, too,” she said in Spanish.
His adult children, Gloria and Jorge Ramos, held back tears as they described Mr. Ramos-Solano as a good father and hard worker who did not deserve to die as he did.
“What happened to my dad was very inhumane,” Gloria Ramos said. “I want justice for my dad, and I want justice for all the families out there who are suffering and who have gone through our same situation.”
The Mexican consulate said Mr. Ramos-Solano had been living in the United States for 28 years.
Ms. Sheinbaum said on Monday that Mexico planned to take several steps to protest the deaths, including filing a brief in support of a federal lawsuit over detention conditions and raising the matter with the Organization of American States, which promotes democracy and human rights in the Americas. She also said Mexican senators would send letters about inadequate medical care to American lawmakers.
It was not the first time Ms. Sheinbaum has spoken out about the fate of her country’s citizens in American immigration custody. On March 20, after a 19-year-old Mexican immigrant’s death in a Florida detention facility was ruled a suicide, she said, “we want a thorough investigation.”
Mexico sent a diplomatic note to U.S. authorities to protest the episode, she said at the time.
“It is regrettable, and we will, by all means, lodge our protest,” she said.
Since Mr. Trump took office last year and initiated his mass deportation effort, 47 people have died in custody, according to news releases and death reports issued by ICE. In the first three months of this year, 14 people have died in custody.
The crackdown on undocumented immigrants in American cities has provoked widespread protests. Immigrant rights groups, lawyers and relatives of detainees have been speaking out about the harsh conditions within detention facilities, many of which are run by private companies that also run state and federal prisons. They have described persistent delays and neglect in medical care that they argue have led to deaths.
David Shortell contributed reporting from Mexico City.
Tim Arango is a correspondent covering national news. He is based in Los Angeles.
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