Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum demands 'thorough investigation' into shooting death of Mexican immigrant by ICE

Laura Rodríguez Presa, Chicago Tribune on Sep 18, 2025

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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the killing of a Mexican immigrant by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent last week in west suburban Franklin Park.

This week, the Mexican government issued a diplomatic note to U.S. authorities demanding “a thorough investigation” into the Sept. 12 death of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, 38, a native of Michoacan, Mexico.

“We do not agree with what is happening,” Sheinbaum said during her daily briefing on Wednesday. “So, we are working on a specific diplomatic note regarding these issues. Several have already been made, but this one in particular is about this case and other cases related to human rights violations.”

Sheinbaum said the Mexican government is demanding all the information regarding the fatal shooting from the U.S. government. The Mexican Consulate in Chicago and Mexico’s embassy in Washington will closely follow the case with federal authorities, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Villegas Gonzalez was shot and killed after he allegedly tried to flee a traffic stop and struck an ICE officer with his vehicle. According to a GoFundMe organized to pay for his funeral expenses, he was shot and killed after he dropped his sons off at school.

Federal officials, meanwhile, said the officer who opened fire acted appropriately and in fear for his life. He was recovering from severe leg injuries Friday at a local hospital, where his condition had stabilized.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a written statement that Villegas Gonzalez is a citizen of Mexico and was in the U.S. illegally, though further details were not provided.

According to DHS, immigration officers conducted a vehicle stop Friday morning to arrest Villegas Gonzalez, who has a record of reckless driving offenses.

Records show that a man whose name and age matches Villegas Gonzalez has received a number of traffic tickets in Cook County, but an initial search by the Tribune revealed no criminal incidents locally.

Villegas Gonzalez “refused to follow law enforcement commands and drove his car” at officers, striking one of the ICE agents and dragging him “a significant distance,” the DHS statement said. “Fearing for his life, the officer discharged his firearm and struck the subject.”

Both the agent and Villegas Gonzalez were taken to nearby Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where Villegas Gonzalez was pronounced dead, authorities said.

The shooting in the typically quiet, working-class suburb, which has a population that is more than half Hispanic, immediately brought calls for transparency from Illinois political leaders and condemnation from activists who decried the “aggressive” tactics of immigration agents. Hours after the fatal incident, U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García and U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, both Chicago Democrats, and other public officials, called for a full investigation of the shooting.

Villegas Gonzalez died amid President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security surge of immigration law enforcement in Chicago, dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.” The administration claims the ongoing operation, launched at the beginning of September, targets “criminal illegal aliens” who have taken advantage of the city and state’s sanctuary policies.

During Sheinbaum’s morning briefing Wednesday, she condemned the violence and the alleged human rights violations against the Mexican immigrant community in the United States.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is assisting Villegas Gonzalez’s family for the repatriation of his remains to his home community in Michoacan. And attorneys from the Legal Assistance Program are handling custody matters for his children.

“A part of this also has to do with protecting our immigrant brothers and sisters with the consulate’s (help),” Sheinbaum said.

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