Photo courtesy of Amyyfory via Wikimedia Commons. On March 27 a fire at a migrant detention center in Cuidad Juárez, Mexico, has killed 38 people, resulting in protests from migrant rights activists.
By Kiera McLaughlin ’26
Staff Writer
Content warning: This article discusses state-sanctioned violence and mentions various forms of police brutality.
On March 27, 2023, at least 38 migrants from Central and South America died in a fire at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Reuters reported. According to NPR, a surveillance video, which was posted online, shows detainees trapped in a locked cell while uniformed agents left the building without aiding them. BBC reported that the agents ignored the men trying to escape the fire while they yelled and banged on the door. After the smoke filled the room, however, it is unknown what took place at the facility.
Viangly Infante Padrón, a Venezuelan migrant seeking asylum in the U.S. with her family, told BBC that the agents at the detention center left her husband and other detained migrants “behind locked bars” while they themselves escaped the fire. According to AP News, Pardón continued, saying “[t]here was smoke everywhere. They let the women out and the migration staff, but it wasn’t until the firefighters arrived that they let the men out.” According to El País, there were 68 men total detained in the cell where the fire started at 9:00 p.m.
El País reported that many Venezuelan migrants were targeted by raids on March 27, including families, who were then taken to an immigration detainment center that did not have enough food or water for everyone detained. While the investigation is still in progress, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed that detainees started the fire by lighting up mattresses in protest after learning that they would soon be deported, Reuters reported. Amnesty International released a statement claiming the fire was a consequence of “the restrictive and cruel immigration policies shared by the governments of Mexico and the United States.”
Activists for migrant rights have also issued statements about the fire. Gretchen Kuhner, director of the Mexico-based Institute for Women in Migration, stated that these events “are a horrible example of why organizations have been working to limit or eliminate detention in Mexico,” Reuters reported.
According to El País, on March 9, over 30 migrant shelters and other advocacy groups published an open letter that voiced concerns and complaints about the criminalization of migrants and asylum seekers in Ciudad Juárez.
The letter addressed the abuse and excessive force used by authorities to round up migrants and the way that migrants are targeted by police, without cause, because of their immigration status. According to El País, unrest has been building for months, and on March 12, about 600 migrants protested by standing and blocking the Paso del Norte international bridge that links Mexico and the United States. El País explained that Salvadoran and Honduran migrants stay in migration centers for days, and on March 26, Mexican agents started to make arrests near and around the human rights centers that help migrants.
According to AP News, a Mexican judge has ordered that five people be investigated for their involvement in the fire. The groups included three Mexican immigration officials, a private security guard and a Venezuelan migrant. The four agents at the detention center are being held on charges of homicide by omission and injuries caused by the fire, while the migrant who allegedly started the fire will be charged with homicide and causing injuries, AP News reported.
In reaction to the fire, Edith Olivares Ferreto, the executive director of Amnesty International Mexico said this is a “reminder of the importance of adjusting immigration regulations to adhere to the recent decision of the Supreme Court of Justice,” Amnesty International reported. Olivares Ferreto also called for “an end to the practices that have caused untold damage, including torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, to thousands of migrants who have passed through these centers.”