Dozens Killed in Fire at Migrant Detention Center in Northern Mexico
A fire that broke out inside the men’s section of a migrant detention facility in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, has claimed the lives of at least 39 individuals.
According to the National Institute of Migration (INM), a Mexican federal agency, a total of 68 men from Central and South America were in the building at the time of the fire.
“It is with deep sadness and grief that we learned of the fire that occurred inside the INM in Ciudad Juárez,” the city’s federal deputy, Andrea Chavez, tweeted on Tuesday.
“We will wait for the official information and, from this moment on, we send our condolences to the families of the migrants. FGR initiated the investigation,” Chavez added.
The facility is adjacent to the border town of El Paso, Texas, a major crossing point for migrants attempting to illegally enter the United States.
Earlier this month, hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants sought to forcibly enter the United States across the Paso Del Norte international bridge connecting the Mexican city with El Paso.
A large group of migrants in Mexico who were poised to barge into the U.S. over the weekend were blocked from crossing a bridge leading from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman said. https://t.co/YOSWi2C80J pic.twitter.com/y8QmzFwOpJ
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 14, 2023
Shouts of “We want to get through!” and “Open up for us!” rang out amidst the chaos as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) erected physical barriers to prevent the “mass entry” of migrants that could pose “a potential threat,” an agency spokesperson confirmed.
A false rumor that migrants with children would be permitted to enter the United State en masse reportedly incited the border charge.
Misinformation has become a particularly troublesome issue amongst migrants in Ciudad Juárez. Earlier gossip had falsely informed migrants “that there were going to be buses on the U.S. side to take them to Canada,” Camilo Cruz, a United Nations migration office spokeswoman noted. But “when they arrived, they were told it was a lie.”
Growing concerns in the White House over the looming end of Title 42, currently set to expire on May 11, has led the Biden administration to explore alternative solutions to address lingering the border crisis.
In January, President Joe Biden announced his plans to expand Title 42, a pandemic-era policy curbing asylum-seekers based on public health concerns surrounding the spread of communicable diseases, first adopted by former president Donald Trump.
Under the new proposed policy, 30,000 people from Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba would be allowed to enter the United States legally every month if they have a financial sponsor. Individuals who enter under the new policy will be provided two years of humanitarian protection during which they can work and apply for asylum.
The following month, the White House was reportedly working on legislation to overhaul the country’s asylum procedures in a bid to clear out the backlog of applicants. The reform would create specific asylum procedures based on an applicant’s nationality, giving preference to migrants from countries with higher rates of historical approval and conferring them with greater mobility until their case is settled.
The tragedy comes amid a busy day on Capitol Hill focused on the situation at the southern border. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee astThe House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability is also set to hold a hearing entitled, “Biden’s Growing Border Crisis: Death, Drugs, and Disorder on the Northern Border.”
