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Asylum Seekers in Ciudad Juárez Demand Justice, Humane Treatment, Following Blaze That Killed 38

HeadlineMar 29, 2023

In Mexico, hundreds of asylum seekers gathered in Ciudad Juárez Tuesday demanding justice after at least 38 people were killed during a fire at an immigration detention center near the border with El Paso, Texas. Over two dozen others were seriously injured. The blaze Monday broke out after dozens of migrants set their mattresses on fire protesting their deportations, as well as abusive and inhumane conditions at the overcrowded jail, run by Mexico’s National Migration Institute. Surveillance footage released Tuesday also shows guards quickly walking away when the fire started, making no attempt to release the migrants as flames and smoke engulfed their cell. At least 28 of the victims were from Guatemala, according to officials, while others killed and injured were from Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia and Ecuador. This is Daniela Marquez, an asylum seeker from Venezuela, at yesterday’s protest in Ciudad Juárez.

Daniela Marquez: “We demand justice for those who were inside the migration center. They had been there inside for a month. They cried out of hunger because they didn’t give them food. It’s not fair, honestly. The victims have families. Their mothers are in Venezuela. How is that possible that their mothers have to cry for them that far away? It’s not fair, honestly. I don’t have the words to express what I feel, honestly.”

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