[ Protesters call for justice as blaze at detention facility in
Ciudad Juárez highlights tough US immigration policies]
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‘THEY’RE KILLING US’: ANGER GROWS AFTER DEADLY FIRE AT MEXICAN
MIGRANT CENTER  
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Marisol Chávez
March 29, 2023
The Guardian
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_ Protesters call for justice as blaze at detention facility in
Ciudad Juárez highlights tough US immigration policies _

Mexico: calls for justice after CCTV released of migrant centre fire,


 

A loud voice cut through the thick quiet of the night: “_¡Justicia!
¡Justicia! ¡Justicia!”_ Frark Martín Pérez Pérez, 32, chanted
angrily, and hundreds followed.

Justice is what the crowd of about 400 migrants from Latin America
gathered to protest about on Tuesday outside the migrant processing
centre in Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican city on the US border, where at
least 40 were killed in a fire on Monday night.

Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, blamed
protesting migrants
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causing the fire. Security footage published by El Universal
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two immigration agents leaving the scene after the fire began, while
detainees were locked up and unable to escape the flames.

López Obrador on Wednesday vowed to bring to justice whoever was
responsible for the deaths. An investigation is underway to determine
what happened at the center, which he said employed staff from the
government’s National Migration Institute (INM) as well as personnel
from a private contractor.

“There’ll be no attempt to hide the facts, no attempt to cover for
anyone,” the president said.

Rights groups have frequently flagged concerns about poor conditions
and overcrowding in detention centres as the US and Mexico
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record levels of crossings at their shared border.

The fire has highlighted the increasingly tough immigration policies
that have been put in place by Joe Biden’s administration. Limits on
the number of people allowed to seek asylum have left cities along
Mexico’s northern border overwhelmed with people wanting to cross
into the US, including many forced to sleep on the streets, inside
churches or packed shelters.

Dozens of white daisies, rosaries, banners, and photographs decorated
the metal fence that separated the centre from protesters. One by one,
the national anthems of the countries of the victims were sung.

“In honour and grief of the fallen, they’re the martyrs of the
immigrant population. We cannot forget them,” said Juan Pavón, 55,
a migrant from San Cristóbal, Venezuela, who attended the protest
with his two teenage daughters.

[Migrants light candles during a vigil outside the immigration
facility in Ciudad Juarez.]

A vigil outside the immigration facility where at least 40 migrants
died in a fire, in Ciudad Juárez, on Tuesday. Photograph: Guillermo
Arias/AFP/Getty Images

Pavón and his daughters are homeless and awaiting the opportunity to
request an inspection appointment with US Customs and Border
Protection (CBP).

“We don’t know if they’re dead. They’re friends we met on this
journey, family after all we went through,” said Pérez Pérez, a
Venezuelan who emigrated from Perú in search of a better future for
his wife and five children.

He was the only one of his friends not at the detention centre when
the fire occurred, because he had run away when immigration
authorities detained a group that was cleaning car windscreens at a
busy intersection.

More than 24 hours after the incident, the victims’ names have not
been revealed by authorities. Many, like Pérez Pérez, still wonder
if their friends and family are among the dead or injured.

“Justice!” the crowd chanted after each name during a roll-call.
Not knowing the victims’ names, a list of all the people detained at
the time of the incident was read.

The protest remained peaceful, many sat on the street, closed off by
local authorities to prevent the flow of traffic.

Xenophobia and abuse from Mexican authorities were a complaint
throughout the day. Some of those detained on Monday claimed they were
forcibly taken off the streets, without an explanation.

“What is the crime we committed?” said Katiuska Marquez, 23, from
Estado Miranda, Venezuela. “They kept telling us this wasn’t our
country, and that we weren’t allowed to do what we were doing.”

Marquez and her brother, Orlando Maldonado, 30, were asking drivers
for money at an intersection when authorities detained them.

Marquez was released on Monday afternoon, shortly after being
detained, because she has a toddler, and no children are allowed in
the building. Her brother was inside when the fire happened. She still
doesn’t know if he is alive.

“They’re killing us, but they’re also killing us
psychologically,” said Elerith Medina, 31, from Cumana, Venezuela.
“There’s immigrant children who have been detained more times than
any criminal.”

Medina described her experience with the Mexican immigration system as
“torture,” and called for President Biden to rethink immigration
policies.

“I ask him for compassion,” Medina said. “There are many mothers
who are being given appointments, but they’re not allowed to enter
the country with their children.”

Frustration over appointments through the US’s CBP One app
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The app is meant to serve as a one-stop shop portal for migrants with
services and appointments tailored to their needs. However, its
limitations mean families are unable to schedule appointments together
and are forced to separate.

During the protest, the crowd cheered after Pavón suggested the app
be disabled, and a better platform created. “That website is playing
tricks with our minds,” Pavón said. “It must be suspended,
cancelled.”

Many of the protesters planned to set up camp and stay the night
outside the processing centre, saying they would remain peacefully
until authorities from the US and Mexico gave them answers.

“Even though we’re a multitude, we’re still afraid,” said
Sofía García, 29, from Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, who joined the
protest.

García has been in Juarez for two weeks awaiting her inspection
appointment with CBP, and says some locals have welcomed her, but
she’s still faced discrimination.

“Why are we being asked to stay in this country to work and fight if
we don’t have freedom?” García said. “I’d rather go back with
nothing but alive.”

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_Reuters contributed reporting_

* Asylum in Mexico; Migrants;
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* Misrepresentation of the deaths
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* protests
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