Thirty-nine individuals died and 29 had been injured and are in “delicate-serious” situation, in line with the Nationwide Immigration Institute. There have been 68 males from Central and South America held within the facility on the time of the fireplace, the company stated. A Guatemalan official stated many could have been from that Central American nation.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated the fireplace was began by migrants inside the ability in protest after studying they might be deported.
“They by no means imagined that this is able to trigger this horrible misfortune,” López Obrador stated, including that the director of nation’s immigration company was on the scene.
Tensions between authorities and migrants had apparently been working excessive in latest weeks in Ciudad Juarez, the place shelters are full of individuals ready for alternatives to cross into the U.S. or who’ve requested asylum there and are ready out the method.
Greater than 30 migrant shelters and different advocacy organizations revealed an open letter March 9 that complained of a criminalization of migrants and asylum seekers within the metropolis. It accused authorities of abuse and utilizing extreme drive in rounding up migrants, complaining that municipal police had been questioning individuals on the street about their immigration standing with out trigger.
The excessive degree of frustration in Ciudad Juarez was evident earlier this month when tons of of largely Venezuelan migrants performing on false rumors that the US would permit them to enter the nation tried to drive their means throughout one of many worldwide bridges to El Paso. U.S. authorities blocked their makes an attempt.
The nationwide immigration company stated Tuesday that it “energetically rejects the actions that led to this tragedy” with none additional rationalization of what these actions might need been.
In recent times, as Mexico has stepped up efforts to stem the circulation migration to the U.S. border underneath stress from the American authorities, the company has struggled with overcrowding in its amenities. And the nation’s immigration lockups have seen protests and riots every so often.
Largely Venezuelan migrants rioted inside an immigration middle in Tijuana in October that needed to be managed by police and Nationwide Guard troops. In November, dozens of migrants rioted in Mexico’s largest detention middle within the southern metropolis of Tapachula close to the border with Guatemala. Nobody died in both incident.
Karla Samayoa, spokeswoman for Guatemala’s Overseas Ministry, stated that Mexican authorities had knowledgeable them that greater than two dozen of the migrants who died seemed to be from the nation.
Related Press author Sonia Pérez D. in Guatemala Metropolis contributed to this report.
