Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico- Mexican authorities said 39 foreign migrants died after a fire broke out at an immigration detention center in Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city on the US Border across from El Paso. 29 additional migrants were injured.
The fire started around 10 P.M. Central according to the National Immigration Institute. There were 68 men from Central and South America held in the facility at the time of the fire.
The Associated Press (AP) reported that hours after the fire started, rows of migrant bodies were laid out under “shimmery silver sheets” outside the center.
This was the scene of the fire at the national migration institute in Juarez.
🚨 BREAKING OVERNIGHT: 39 dead in fire at Mexico migrant facility across from El Paso. This is the scene of the fire at the national migration institute in Juarez. DETAILS: https://t.co/DQ7L3FTF12 | @cbsaustin
📹: Alfredo Corchado pic.twitter.com/aeT7GNAI0x
— John-Carlos Estrada (@Mr_JCE) March 28, 2023
Mexican Socialist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) said the fire was started by the migrants.
This had to do with a protest that (the migrants) started after we suppose they found out that they were going to be deported & as a protest they placed mats at the door of the shelter & set them on fire.
—NEW
AMLO blames migrants for fire that killed 39 of them in Cd. Juárez:
“This had to do with a protest that (the migrants) started after we suppose they found out that they were going to be deported & as a protest they placed mats at the door of the shelter & set them on fire” pic.twitter.com/iY7aoP0BeB
— José Díaz Briseño (@diazbriseno) March 28, 2023
The AP said the tensions “been running high” in Ciudad, Juarez between authorities and migrants due to the foreign nationals’ desperation to reach U.S. soil.
Tensions between authorities and migrants had apparently been running high in recent weeks in Ciudad Juarez, where shelters are full of people waiting for opportunities to cross into the U.S. or who have requested asylum there and are waiting out the process.
Several migrant shelters and advocacy groups slammed what they considered the “criminalization” of migrants and asylum seekers in Juarez. They further claimed authorities were abusing the foreign nationals.
More than 30 migrant shelters and other advocacy organizations published an open letter March 9 that complained of a criminalization of migrants and asylum seekers in the city. It accused authorities of abuse and using excessive force in rounding up migrants, complaining that municipal police were questioning people in the street about their immigration status without cause.
These tragic deaths are yet another result of Joe Biden’s lawless border policies. These migrants would not be attempting to enter the United States if we had a president dedicated to enforcing immigration law.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, two weeks ago, 1,000 illegal aliens stormed the port of entry in El Paso, Texas in an effort to get into the United States.
The illegal migrants rushing the port-of-entry were mostly military-age males.
A return to the immigration policies under Donald Trump or a like-minded MAGA Republican is the only way to save the lives of both Americans and foreign migrants.