At least 40 die in fire at Mexican migrant holding center

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday that detainees in a Juarez migrant holding center set fire to mattresses on Monday to protest their future deportation. They put the mattresses in front of doors before setting them on fire, López Obrador said. At least 40 people died and another 28 were injured in the blaze, Mexican officials said. Many of their families were still waiting for news Tuesday evening. The detention center is just across the border from El Paso, Texas.

Who was in the detention center? There were 68 men from Central America and South America in the detention center at the time of the fire. Most of them were from Venezuela, though 28 of those killed were from Guatemala. The National Migration Institute said it would provide Visitor Cards for Humanitarian Reasons to allow them to seek treatment in Mexico and will cover the costs of medical treatments. 

Dig deeper: Read Addie Offereins’ report in Compassion on the changes to immigration policy announced in January.