Mexican immigration chief arrested over migrant facility fire that killed 40

The regional head of the National Migration Institute for the state of Chihuahua was arrested on Sunday in connection to the fire at a migrant detention center last month that left 40 dead. 

Salvador Gonzalez Guerrero, a former admiral in the Mexican Navy, was arrested on Sunday in Ciudad Juarez, near the detention center that caught fire, according to the Ministry of Public Safety’s arrest records. He is being accused of homicide and illicit exercise of public service. 

On March 27, an immigration center caught on fire after one of the migrants detained inside lit mattresses on fire in protest. Forty male migrants, mostly from Central America, died in the fire when they were unable to escape because the person holding the key to their cell was absent.

According to the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR), Gonzalez and three other immigration officials were “directly linked to conduct that caused homicides and injuries.” All four have been detained, along with a private security guard. Gonzalez is the highest-ranking official detained in relation to the fire so far. 

The lawyers representing the victims of the deadly fire claim that Gonzalez gave an order for the migrants to be left in their cells despite the spreading fire and smoke. 

Additionally, the FGR announced last week that it will charge the head of Mexico’s s immigration agency, Francisco Garduño, in connection to the fire. According to federal prosecutors, Garduño did not help prevent the disaster in Ciudad Juarez despite previous indications that there were problems at the detention center. However, the official will not be dismissed from his position.

This morning, Gonzalez appeared before a judge at the Federal Criminal Justice Center in Chihuahua. His initial hearing will be held next Friday, April 21, at 10:00 a.m.