MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥 Mexico鈥檚 immigration head will face criminal charges in a fire that killed 40 migrants in a detention center last month, but President Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador said Wednesday that he will not dismiss the official known for his hard line on northbound migration.
Obrador鈥檚 decision to keep Francisco Gardu帽o as head of the Mexican Immigration Institute appeared to conflict with the federal Attorney General鈥檚 Office announcement late Tuesday to charge Gardu帽o in connection with the blaze.
That shows both some separation of powers in Mexico and the conundrum faced by the Mexican government. L贸pez Obrador and his administration are struggling with U.S. pressure to slow the flow of migrants while the international community calls on them to treat migrants humanely and safely.
L贸pez Obrador's comments came on the same day that relatives gathered in rural Guatemala to hold funerals for some of the victims of the deadly fire.
Thousands of people gathered in the Guatemalan village of Chicacao for the funeral of Francisco Gaspar Rojch茅 Chiquival and his uncle Miguel Rojch茅 Zapalu, two of the 19 Guatemalans who died of smoke inhalation or burns in the March 27 fire.
鈥淚 am destroyed, I am wounded,鈥 said the younger man's father, Manuel Rojch茅. 鈥淭his is a very hard blow.鈥
The family had handed over title to their land to raise the $15,000 tha鈥 smugglers demanded to get Rojch茅 Chiquival to the United States. They stand to lose the land. The only possession the 21-year-old left behind 鈥 his beloved motorcycle 鈥 traveled with his coffin in the procession to the local cemetery.
The men died after a migrant set fire to foam mattresses in protest, and guards fled without opening the cell doors.
鈥淭hat president is a coward,鈥 Manuel Rojch茅 said of L贸pez Obrador. 鈥淗ow can you treat people like that, not even an animal ... much less a human being.鈥
Gardu帽o, a lawyer and criminologist, was called to take over the immigration job in June 2019 as Mexico was under pressure from the Trump administration to decrease the flow of migrants.
The Mexican immigration institute has been hit for years with repeated complaints of human-rights violations and unhealthy conditions in center for migrants, conditions including inadequate ventilation, clean water and food. There also have been numerous corruption complaints. Under Gardu帽o, the institute took a harder line.
Calls have come from within Mexico, and from some Central American nations, not to stop the case of last month鈥檚 fire at the five low-level officials, guards and a Venezuelan migrant already facing homicide charges.
Federal prosecutors said late Tuesday that Gardu帽o was remiss in not preventing the disaster in Ciudad Juarez despite earlier indications of problems at his agency's detention centers. Prosecutors said that government audits had found 鈥渁 pattern of irresponsibility and repeated omissions鈥 in the immigation institute. However, charges being brought in Mexico, especially against public officials, do not always result in prison time.
On Wednesday, L贸pez Obrador said that even though the Attorney General鈥檚 Office was investigating Gardu帽o, prosecutors had revealed few details and it was not exactly clear how they would charge him.
"We are going to wait and we are going to make decisions in the (right) moment,鈥 L贸pez Obrador said.
The president defended Gardu帽o, saying 鈥渉is work is good in general; he has always had good performance,鈥 despite 鈥渢he misfortune鈥 that happened in Juarez.
Gardu帽o has been close to L贸pez Obrador since the latter was Mexico City mayor, and Gardu帽o has overseen a strategy to contain migrants in southern Mexico with the help of the 好色tv Guard, which has been criticized as the start of a militarization of Mexico's immigration policy. It included placing retired or active military officers in leadership positions inside the immigration agency.
Gardu帽o's predecessor at the immigration institute, sociologist Tonatiuh Guill茅n, said the prosecutor's decision 鈥渋s a good signal, given that the expectation at first was just an investigation of those who were directly responsible.鈥
Guill茅n said, however, that keeping Gardu帽o in his position generated an 鈥渦nnecessary tension鈥 because he should have been dismissed in order to make the case against him more straightforward.
Guill茅n resigned in 2019 because of his disagreement with hardening migration policy, as Washington was demanding.
Anger in Mexico initially focused on two guards who were seen fleeing the March 27 fire, without unlocking the cell door to allow the migrants to escape. But L贸pez Obrador had said earlier Tuesday that they didn鈥檛 have the keys.
A video from a security camera inside the facility shows guards walking away when the fire started in late March inside the cell holding migrants without making an effort to release them.
The Attorney General鈥檚 Office said several other officers will also face charges for failing to carry out their duties, the statement said, but prosecutors did not explain what specific charges or identify the officials.
An immigration official said on Wednesday morning that Gardu帽o had not yet been called to testify. The official asked for anonymity because was hot authorized to speak on the record.
One migrant allegedly set fire to foam mattresses at the detention center to protest detention conditions and what he apparently thought were plans to move or deport the migrants. Mexico has returned the bodies of 31 migrants to their home countries.
Dozens of mourners turned out on the dusty streets of the village of Protecci贸n, in Honduras, where the coffins of three local men arrived from Mexico.
Cindy Uman虄a recieved the coffin of her brother, Edin Uma帽a, in her house. The only thing she could ask was that those responsible be prosecuted.
鈥淚 know that locking them up will not give us our relatives' lives back,鈥 Uma帽a said. 鈥淏ut at least we will know that justice has been done.鈥
Complaints about corruption and bad conditions at Mexico鈥檚 migrant detention facilities have never been seriously addressed: Prosecutors said that after a fire at another detention center in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco killed one person and injured 14 in 2020, the immigration agency knew there were problems that needed to be corrected, but alleged they failed to act.
