ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

State immigration chief held for trial in migrant deaths

A makeshift altar in honor of migrants who died in last month's fire, sits outside the immigration detention center where a dormitory fire killed more than three dozen people, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Thursday, April 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez) A makeshift altar in honor of migrants who died in last month's fire, sits outside the immigration detention center where a dormitory fire killed more than three dozen people, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Thursday, April 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
Share
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -

A judge on Saturday ordered the immigration director of Mexico's northern border state of Chihuahua to stand trial Saturday on charges of homicide, injuries and failure to perform his duties, for last month's deadly fire at a migrant detention center.

The judge ordered the director, Salvador Gonzalez, held in prison pending trial.

Judge Juan Jose Chavez said there was evidence that Gonzalez failed to do his duty to protect the migrants. Forty migrants died in the March 27 fire in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, after a migrant allegedly set fire to foam mattresses to protest a supposed transfer.

"In the end, everything depends on the head" official, Chavez said. "Not complying with standards does have its results."

Five other officials of the country's National Immigration Institute, a guard at the center and the Venezuelan migrant accused of starting the blaze are already in custody facing homicide charges.

The step is significant, in part because Gonzalez is a retired Mexican navy rear admiral. He is the highest ranking official to be held over for trial in the case, though prosecutors have said they will press charges against the immigration agency's top national official, Francisco Garduno, who is scheduled to make a court appearance April 21.

Federal prosecutors have said Garduno was remiss in not preventing the disaster in Ciudad Juarez despite earlier indications of problems at his agency's detention centers. Prosecutors said government audits had found "a pattern of irresponsibility and repeated omissions" in the immigration institute.

The fire in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, quickly filled the facility with smoke. No one let the migrants out.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

BREAKING

BREAKING

The New Brunswick RCMP has issued an alert as officers search for an armed teenager in the Moncton and Shediac areas.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.