The Mexican government has announced intensified legal measures against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the death of 52-year-old Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, marking the fourth fatality this year at the Adelanto Processing Center in southern California. This incident brings the total number of migrant deaths in ICE custody to 14 this year, approaching last year’s two-decade high of 31 fatalities.
President Claudia Sheinbaum declared during her daily press conference that Mexico would pursue “greater measures” to address what she characterized as unacceptable treatment of Mexican nationals. The government is formally supporting a class-action lawsuit against The GEO Group Inc., the private contractor operating the Adelanto facility, which alleges unconstitutional detention conditions including mold infestation, disease spread, medical neglect, and inadequate provisions.
Ramos-Solano, who entered the U.S. illegally and had prior convictions for drug possession and theft, died on March 25 after being found unresponsive in his bunk. Despite immediate CPR administration and transportation to a nearby hospital, he was pronounced dead. ICE records indicate Ramos-Solano had received medical care for diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension since his February arrest.
The escalating crisis occurs amid record-breaking detention numbers, with approximately 68,000 immigrants currently in ICE custody. Vanessa Calva Ruiz, Mexico’s director general for consular protection, pledged to “exhaust all legal, diplomatic and multilateral avenues to demand justice” during a emotional press conference at the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles where Ramos-Solano’s children appealed for transparency regarding their father’s death.