They join their lives in prison
Imelda Robles
Monterrey, Mexico (July 17, 2025) - 5:00 a.m.
The love of 30 couples was officially sealed with marriage at Cereso No. 3 in Cadereyta .
An unprecedented event in the state took place yesterday: 30 men deprived of their liberty married, but 15 of them married women currently incarcerated in the women's prison, who were transferred to Cadereyta to be married.
The women entered the prison's function room dressed as brides to meet their beloved.
The other 15 men married women who are free.
Throughout the history of state penitentiary centers, there have been mass weddings, but of male inmates who marry women outside the prison.
This event was made possible thanks to the work of Mercedes Jaime de Fernández, a Vincentian volunteer who for four decades has worked to free innocent people and those who committed minor crimes.
"This is the first time in 40 years that the women's prison has asked me to marry them. Unbelievable, but true," says Mrs. Meche. "It's never happened before that they've asked us if an inmate also had a partner in prison and wanted to get married."
The excitement and happiness this generates in couples motivates her, she adds, along with the hope that this marriage will bring them a new ideal to strive for and move forward.
Mercedes Jaime de Fernández, a Vincentian volunteer who for four decades has worked to free innocent people and those who committed minor crimes.
With the help of civil organizations, Mrs. Meche arranged the necessary legal procedures, medical examinations, and clothing for the bride and groom, who didn't have any. The Pangea restaurant in San Pedro donated the banquet for the celebration.
This is in addition to the facilities provided by the prison authorities to make this dream a reality.
Now, once married, couples are entitled to a conjugal visit once a month. When both are incarcerated, the women from the women's prison are transferred to the Cadereyta prison.
Do you want to know how these couples met?
Kevin and Jenny fell in love in 2017 at the Topo Chico Prison.
Kevin, now 24, visited a relative in the Topo Chico Prison in 2017 and fell in love with Jenny, an inmate there at the time, when men and women were kept together and there was no women-only prison.
"I fell in love with her," says Kevin. "At Topo Chico, they used to be free-roaming, and you could walk in and she'd be free-roaming the whole visit, and so I saw her and said, 'There's something about her I like.' I asked about her."
A couple of years later, the young man was arrested, first admitted to Topo Chico (closed in September 2019) and then transferred to Cereso No. 3 in Cadereyta.
She says: "We started talking and then they moved me to this prison (Cereso femenil), and then he went to the prison too, but we still kept in touch thanks to his mom."
They've maintained communication through calls they're allowed to make in prison, during one of which Kevin took the opportunity to propose to her. "I didn't want to, but she finally accepted," Kevin says.
The young people chat with huge smiles and say they will live in the moment.
The hope of staying out together is there, even though she is serving a 31-year sentence and he is serving a 15-year sentence.
"We're fed up with years," Kevin laughs.
"We have a long sentence, but here we are together anyway," Jenny adds with a smile.
Five years ago, Jorge Adrián and Rosa Icela, who were already a couple, were arrested.
She was admitted to the women's prison. He was admitted to the Apodaca 1 prison and then to the Cadereyta prison.
They are both 32 years old and are parents of a 12-year-old teenager.
"They arrested us at the same time," Jorge says. "We're here for the same crime: aggravated kidnapping."
Yesterday they were happy, because after a 15-year courtship they finally got married.
What does it mean for you to formalize your marriage right now?
"Dating and being together forever," says Rosa Icela. "I've always told him we'll always be together, and now we're going to formalize our relationship."
They hope to get a reduced sentence and go free to enjoy the love that unites them.
How have you managed to maintain your relationship for five years despite each of you being in prison?
"Well, just don't get angry," Jorge comments, "and we can't settle in here in these places either, because it's not like you come here to settle in, but we do want to be calm."
Emmanuel and Karla fell in love 13 years ago while both incarcerated in the Topo Chico Prison. He arrived in 2009. She, in 2012.
They were then separated: he was transferred to the Cadereyta Prison and she to the Women's Prison.
They lost touch five years ago, but Emmanuel, now 36, upon learning of the possibility of getting married, asked a friend to contact Karla, 44, his old love from Topo Chico.
"I hadn't looked at her in five years, and I wanted to see her again," says Emmanuel, minutes before signing the marriage certificate.
"They gave us an inter-prison call, and I was able to speak to her over the phone to make the proposal."
Karla remembers the call:
"I only spoke to him on the phone once, and he said, 'Shall we get married?' And I said, 'Yes,' and that was it."
How did you meet at the Topo Chico Prison?
"We met at a dance. There was some kind of festival there, and I met him there," the woman says. "They had Valentine's Day dances and all that."
They say they are taking this step toward marriage because they are both close to being released from prison and dream of a life together.
"They're going to release us soon, and we're going to continue this outside," Emmanuel says.
Karla has more than a year left to complete her sentence, and her now husband has a little more time.
For years, Imelda and Jaime have maintained communication through letters.
Imelda and Jaime have had an old-fashioned love.
She, 45, and he, 42, have maintained communication through letters sent from Cereso to Cereso.
They say that their mail arrives, on average, every month and a half.
They met before they were both arrested.
Imelda entered Topo Chico in 2011. In July 2013, she says she saw the news on TV that Jaime had been arrested.
"We had lost touch, except that we met in prison together. Then we started corresponding until we decided to marry."
Jaime made the decision to ask her to marry him, and now they're a team that supports each other through thick and thin.
"I'm waiting for the resolution of my injunction, and if it's favorable, I hope to leave and obviously come back to see him," Imelda says.
"Because marriage isn't just about us while we're here: it's about supporting each other both inside and out, and a marriage is for life."
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