Mexico to seek U.S. deportation of ex-soldier linked to Ayotzinapa disappearance

Mexico's Attorney General's Office (FGR) announced it will request the United States to deport a former soldier, Enrique Martínez Chávez, who was apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in California. The FGR alleges Martínez Chávez is implicated in the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from the Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Normal School in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero.

U.S. authorities notified the FGR of Martínez Chávez's capture in Hawthorne, California, after he failed to prove his legal status in the United States. The FGR stated it is initiating the necessary procedures for his immigration process and subsequent return to Mexico. Martínez Chávez is currently detained at a processing center in Adelanto, California.

The FGR confirmed that its investigation into Martínez Chávez's potential involvement in the disappearance of the 43 students is ongoing. Mexican authorities have issued an active arrest warrant for him in Mexico, charging him with forced disappearance. The warrant was issued by a judge in the State of Mexico.

This development is part of the broader, ongoing investigation into one of Mexico's most notorious human rights cases. The disappearance of the Ayotzinapa students in September 2014 has been a source of national anguish and international scrutiny for years, with persistent calls for justice and accountability.