BREAKBREAK,
Fire broke out late Monday at a shelter in Ciudad Juarez across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Dozens of people have been killed and injured after a fire broke out at an immigrant detention center in northern Mexico, near the US border.
TThe fire occurred late Monday at a factory in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Footage from the scene showed ambulances, firefighters and morgue delivery trucks surrounding the smoke-filled facility with rows of bodies lying under glittering silver sheets.
#Communication 🗞️| @INAMI_mx Lamenta el fallecimiento de 39 personas migrant extranjeras, derivado de a fire originating for the last 10:00 pm of lunes in the area of ​​alojamiento of la Estancia Provisional de Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua. https://t.co/NCe0yExH9T pic.twitter.com/vhT9cgXzsq
— INM (@INAMI_mx) March 28, 2023
At least 39 people were killed in the fire. Twenty-nine injured have been taken to hospitals, Mexico’s National Immigration Institute said.
The office of the Attorney General of Mexico has launched an investigation and has investigators on the scene, according to media reports.
A rescue worker – who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the press – estimated that about 70 migrants, mostly Venezuelans, were on the scene.
Vinagly, a Venezuelan woman, stood outside the immigration center, desperate for information about her 27-year-old husband who had been detained there.
“He was taken away in an ambulance,” she told AFP news agency. “She [immigration officials] tell you nothing. A family member can die and they don’t tell you he’s dead.”
Ciudad Juarez is an important crossing point for migrants entering the United States. The shelters are full of migrants waiting for opportunities to cross over or who have applied for asylum in the United States and are awaiting trial.
The US administration of President Joe Biden hopes to reverse the record flow of people who often undertake dangerous journeys organized by people smugglers to reach the US.
In February, Biden proposed new restrictions on asylum seekers, hoping to curb the influx of people to the southern border when COVID-related controls are lifted.
The new rules say those who arrive at the border and simply enter the United States will no longer be eligible for asylum. Instead, they must first apply for asylum in one of the countries they pass through to get to the US border, or apply online through a US government app.
Each month, about 200,000 people attempt to cross the border from Mexico into the United States. Most come from Central and South America and call poverty and violence home when applying for asylum.
A recent report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) states that since 2014, some 7,661 migrants have died or disappeared en route to the US, while 988 have died in accidents or traveling in inhumane conditions.