Mexico demands reciprocity from US over 269 unresolved extradition requests

The United States has rejected and mostly ignored 269 extradition requests made by the Mexican government, said President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday, requesting reciprocity as the Trump administration pushes for the extradition of 10 officials linked to Mexico’s ruling party.

“There has been no extradition of any of these alleged criminals to Mexico. In other words, what Mexico has always asked for — at least under our administration — is reciprocity. Why have none of them been extradited if these are significant cases and reciprocity exists?” Sheinbaum said during her daily briefing.

From January 2018 through May 13, 2026, Mexico submitted 269 extradition requests to the United States. None of the individuals sought have been transferred to Mexico, and 36 requests have been formally denied by US authorities.

During the press conference, Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco Alvarez said that, of the remaining 233 unresolved requests, 183 are currently being processed by US judicial authorities.

The extradition requests submitted by Mexico involve cases related to organized crime, corruption, and enforced disappearances.

Among the high-profile cases is that of former Tamaulipas governor Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca, who is accused of money laundering, illicit enrichment, and organized crime. Mexican authorities have maintained an arrest warrant against him since 2022.

In 2021, the former governor of the northeastern border state was accused of maintaining ties to the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico’s most violent and powerful criminal organizations, historically based in Tamaulipas. In 2022, he fled to the United States, where he has since resided in Dallas, Texas.

In April, the US government formally requested the extradition of 10 Mexican officials allegedly linked to the ruling Morena party over accusations related to drug trafficking.

Although two officials have surrendered to US authorities and Mexican financial authorities have frozen the accounts of the 10 suspects, the Mexican government has not approved any extraditions and has demanded additional evidence to support the allegations made by the Trump administration.

The foreign minister said that Mexico and the United States are signatories to a bilateral extradition treaty and that, under this agreement, neither country is obligated to extradite its own nationals, as doing so remains a “discretionary” power.

“We are obligated to conduct a thorough review of all the evidence and arguments contained in extradition requests before handing over a Mexican national,” he explained.