Enrique Mendez and Georgina Saldierna
The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, August 1, 2024, p. 15
The National Migration Institute (INM) ratified to the Senate the statements of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador regarding the fact that the head of this organization, Francisco Garduño Yáñez, will continue in his position, since the responsibilities for the fire at the immigration station in Ciudad Juárez, where 40 undocumented immigrants died, are being determined.
The determination of his permanence in office will be made once the corresponding criminal process is resolved, said the INM in response to the request for information on the situation of immigration stations, formulated by the plural working group monitoring this issue.
In the document signed by the institute’s deputy legal commissioner, Alejandro Tagle, it was also recalled that on April 30, 2023, a federal control judge denied the request made by the Attorney General’s Office to temporarily remove Garduño Yáñez from his duties.
Regarding the situation of the stations, the organization indicated to the senators that are members of the group that it has worked on the improvement and modernization of said infrastructure, in order to guarantee that events that threaten the integrity and life of migrants will not be repeated.
He added that there are 54 temporary stays, of which 33 have been suspended since April 29, 2023, and the rest are still in operation.
He also highlighted that a comprehensive civil protection program was gradually implemented, which involves the installation of emergency doors; removal of bars; elimination of the use of padlocks, locks and bars on doors and windows, as well as the installation of plastic glass, smoke detectors, fire hydrants and the removal of metal protection grilles from the rear windows and sides of 424 vehicles in which undocumented immigrants are transported.
The document was published yesterday in the Parliamentary Gazette of the Senate, but dated May 13, and reports on the update of training programs on human rights and civil protection.
