Good afternoon,

On March 27, a deadly blaze killed nearly 40 migrants and injured 30 others at an immigration processing center in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, near the border with the United States. This happens to be the same center that some of our Forum team visited in fall of 2021.  According to reports, migrants cried for help as they faced the blaze and billowing clouds of smoke, but no one came to rescue them. Surveillance videos show the center’s guards walking away during the fire leaving trapped detainees in a locked cell.

This tragic loss of life highlights how decades of failed immigration policies by the United States and Mexico have contributed to the "worst immigration-related tragedies in the history of modern Mexico."

Responses by both American and Mexican officials to this loss of life have been disappointing. Last year, 53 migrants were found dead in an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas. And countless migrants lose their lives on the way to their destination every day. Officials on both sides of the border must find compassionate and humane solutions to the broken immigration policies that contribute to these terrible deaths.

Americans value offering refuge and welcome and agree that bipartisan efforts to achieve meaningful immigration reform are urgently needed. In recent polling from the National Immigration Forum and the Bullfinch Group, 76% of registered voters support Republicans and Democrats working together on immigration reforms. Strengthening border security and preventing tragedies such as the one in Ciudad Juárez, among other priorities, is what the majority of Americans are asking for.

Officials on both sides of the aisle should listen to the American people. Together, let’s continue to advocate for better immigration policies that preserve our American values of welcome, protecting both human rights and our communities.

Stay hopeful and committed,

Oula Alrifai

Oula Alrifai
Assistant Vice President of Field & Constituencies
National Immigration Forum 

NEWS CLIPS TO NOTE:

NPR: A deadly Mexico immigration center fire shows just a sliver of the abuse migrants see

BUSINESS INSIDER: America needs immigration reform, or it risks losing an entire generation of tech workers to countries like Canada, the UK, and Japan

CBS NEWS: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas won't call immigration at southern border a crisis

THE INQUIRER: More buses from Texas? Philly ready to welcome immigrants as pandemic bar drops.

WESH: Activists rally across Florida to stop immigration bills