Overview

• Francisco Garduño is scheduled to offer a public apology in Mexico City on Friday in an event coordinated by the federal victims’ commission, which civil groups stress is a personal act rather than a state admission.
• The apology is one requirement set by Judge Víctor Manlio Hernández Calderón under a conditional suspension tied to charges of illicit exercise of public service.
• The March 27, 2023 fire at the Ciudad Juárez migration facility left 40 people dead and 27 seriously injured, with rights groups also noting impacts on women held at the site.
• Advocacy organizations say the apology does not close the case or exonerate Garduño and call it a symbolic first step toward comprehensive reparations.
• The groups demand compensation for 82 identified victims, formal recognition and humanitarian residency for affected women, accountability for all officials facing charges, and structural changes to prevent repetition, including ending migrant detention.