Faced with the death of at least 40 people in a fire that broke out in a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, the United States ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazaradvocated cooperation between partners to repair the “broken immigration system“and to address the root causes of migration.
The diplomat expressed his solidarity with the victims and the injured, in addition, he regretted the fact that adds to other tragedies related to illegal immigration such as the case where 53 migrants died abandoned in a trailer in San Antonio, Texas, or that of another 56 who died when a truck overturned in Chiapas.
We stand in solidarity with the community of this city in the face of this tragedy (…) These cases are a reminder of the risks of irregular migration and of the dangers they run due to the greed of people traffickers,” Ken Salazar said in a statement. .
Salazar reiterated that the United States will continue to collaborate with the governments of the region and with its partners to compose the immigration system and to address the causes of migration.
“Achieving a safe, orderly and humane migration system is a shared responsibility in which governments, international organizations and society must join together to prevent events like this from happening. Furthermore, it confirms that those who seek to migrate must do so through legal channels to avoid the risks that irregular migration and people smugglers bring,” he added.
According to Migration’s national institute (INM) 68 people were housed in the place. The seriously injured were taken to several nearby hospitals. Of the total deaths, 28 are from Guatemala and 13 from Honduras, reported the foreign ministries of both countries.
“The victims of these tragedies came from many countries, reaffirming the spirit of the Los Angeles Declaration which underscores that the governments of the region must work together to address migration as a regional challenge.
We collaborate with the Government of Mexico to address the root causes of migration, generate hope in the communities of origin and work on legal pathways, as well as to combat smuggling and trafficking in persons,” the ambassador concluded.
Until Tuesday afternoon it was unknown if there were dead migrants of other nationalities, but the Mexican attorney general’s office reported in a statement that the following were: a Colombian, an Ecuadorian, 12 Salvadorans, 28 Guatemalans, 13 Hondurans and 12 Venezuelans.
According to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the incident originated when some imprisoned migrants protested by burning mattresses at the door of the compound. The Government supposes that the action was motivated because they found out that they were going to be “deported”.
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