Photo courtesy of BBC World Service via Flickr. Francisco Garduno and five other immigration officials have been charged with homicide following a fire at a migrant center, which killed 40 people.
Elizabeth Murray
Staff Writer ’26
Content warning: This article discusses mass death.
On Tuesday, April 11, criminal charges were brought against Mexico’s top immigration official, Francisco Garduño, for the fire that killed 40 people in March 2023, NPR reported. Five other lower-ranking officials have also been charged, as well as a Venezuelan migrant. The fire occurred on March 27 in a facility housing 68 men, CNN explained. It started when a group of detainees set fire to mattresses in protest of their presumed deportation. Detainees were kept behind a locked gate in the facility, in addition to locked doors. In the aftermath of the fire, a video emerged of two guards fleeing the center, but they did not unlock the gate — the president later stated that they did not have keys. As of April 12, 31 of the bodies have been returned to their homelands, NPR stated.
According to an NBC news article, the officials were charged after an investigation found that there was a “pattern of irresponsibility.” CBS News stated that three of the guards and the Venezuelan migrant all face homicide charges. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated that “from the beginning, we maintained that there would be no impunity for anyone,” according to CNN, however, the investigation is still ongoing.
“From the beginning, we maintained that there would be no impunity for anyone.”
Ciudad Juárez is a city situated in Northern Mexico near El Paso and the United States border. Because of the U.S.’ pandemic policies — which are set to expire in May — cities in this region have become overburdened with migrants who hope to cross into the U.S., according to CNN. The New York Times explained that Ciudad Juárez has a long history of being a stop for many migrants, who either come to work in Mexico or continue into the U.S.. Under the Biden administration, new policies were created to curb illegal border crossings. Migrants who had illegally crossed would be sent to Mexico, where a pathway would be created for them to legally immigrate to the U.S.. This plan went into effect in October 2022 and has since left many migrants stranded in dire conditions in Ciudad Juárez waiting to be able to go to the U.S.