A tragic fire that broke out at a migrant processing center in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, has claimed the lives of at least 39 people.
Many of the victims are believed to be Venezuelans who were attempting to reach the United States.
The fire is said to have started during a protest against deportations, with migrants reportedly setting mattresses on fire. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador commented on the incident, saying, “It was related to a protest they started when they learned that they’d be deported.
They didn’t think that would cause this terrible tragedy.” The fire occurred shortly before 10 p.m. local time and resulted in body bags being lined up on the pavement outside the facility.
The migrant center is located near the Stanton-Lerdo Bridge, which links Mexico and the United States. Sixty-eight men from Central and South America were inside the facility run by Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) at the time of the fire.
The Biden Administration has also announced its intention to end the use of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that allows US border officials to deny entry to individuals “to prevent the spread of communicable disease.”
However, the policy remains in place for now. With the prospect of an end to Title 42 looming, the number of migrants in Ciudad Juárez has been steadily increasing.
