Hora Cero
junio 16, 2025
«I forgive him, I have no hatred in my heart, I wish him no harm. I can only tell him that up above, he is with the one who no one can stand against, with the one who makes the possible impossible, and I send a message here to the survivors and the families of the deceased: we will continue the fight, we will not give up because this migration has killed many people and raped many women… Mr. Garduño, this is not the first fire; it is the second, and you were aware of the safety prevention protocol. ¿Why didn’t you do it? You had control in your hands.” These were the words with which Stefan Arango Murillo, originally from Venezuela, began her testimony before the person primarily responsible for the fire that nearly took her life at the INM immigration prison in Ciudad Juárez on March 27, 2023.
More than 1,800 kilometers away from the scene of the tragedy, at the Mexico City Museum, 27 survivors and the families of the 40 deceased victims heard Francisco Garduño Yañez ask for a public apology that was ordered by Judge Víctor Manlio Hernández Calderón, as part of the conditions for the suspension of the process against him, which would mean the release of Garduño from the criminal proceedings.
It is because of these legal actions on behalf of Garduño that the public apology became an act that demanded justice and the construction of memory. «We want real justice, a full apology, and decisive action. We cannot accept this apology until there is a thorough, independent, and transparent investigation that identifies those intellectually and materially responsible,»said Claudia Varela Ramírez, from El Salvador, sister of Daniel de Jesús Varela Ramírez, who died during the fire.
Relatives of the deceased victims showed the deep pain that the absence of their brothers, sons, and husbands means. Survivors recounted how their physical and mental health was affected and the permanent implications this tragedy left on their bodies. As is the case with Wilson Alexander Juárez Hernandez, originally from Guatemala, he was 21 years old when he survived the fire. Wilson can no longer walk without the aid of a walker and has trouble communicating. “I believe in God and there is justice beyond this life, even if there is a judge who wants to free him from these things without taking into account what the victims go through,” said the young Guatemalan who, with the assistance of others, managed to send his message and his feelings to Francisco Garduño, who was listening from the other side of the hall.
Francisco Garduño Yañez publicly apologized to a silent audience that didn’t applaud. He spoke in front of survivors and victims who held back everything except their pain and the tears that came with remembering this tragedy.
Although the apologies are part of the process to free him from facing justice, Garduño called for full reparation to prevent this from happening again, and for respect for the Declaration of Human Rights regarding migrants.
The former INM commissioner named each of the deceased victims and their survivors. He later offered «with humility» a profound apology. «I apologize and acknowledge that these events are unacceptable, and I condemn what happened every time it caused changes to their life plans. There are no words that can make amends and restore the conditions they had before March 27, 2023,» said the former commissioner of Mexico’s National Migration Institute, who, through his position, was responsible for implementing Mexican immigration policy from 2019 to 2025.
On January 24, 2025, Francisco Garduño Yañez was granted a conditional suspension of the criminal proceedings against him after having previously requested it. Seven conditions must be met within a period of 18 months. These measures range from taking human rights courses to reforming the INM immigration detention centers, where migrants are deprived of their liberty.
If this is not done, the criminal proceedings against him, which accuse him of «unlawful exercise of public office,» will continue. Fabianne Cabaret, director of the Foundation for Justice, one of the organizations supporting the victims’ families, believes that since this is a minor offense, the punishment does not exceed five years in prison. It is precisely for this crime that he was charged that his criminal proceedings were suspended, as they are only applicable to «minor» offenses, Fabianne Cabaret adds.
In a statement, the Foundation for Justice clarified that Garduño’s public apology should not be understood as a closure to the case of the fire at the Ciudad Juárez immigration station. On the contrary, the investigation and the fight for justice for the families and survivors continue.
