Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Burned alive in border detention, MX/Texas

Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez (democracynow.org), 3/29/23; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

38 die in fire inside Mexican immigration jail amid broader crackdown near U.S. border
(Democracy Now!) March 29, 2023. Let's go to the border dividing El Paso from Ciudad Juárez for an update on the fire that killed at least 38 men [who were picked up and detained whether or not they had legal papers to be in the country] held at a Mexican immigration detention center just across the U.S. border from El Paso, Texas.
Surveillance video from the jail shows guards walking away as flames spread inside the jail cells, making no effort to open the jail cells or help the migrants who were trapped.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed the fire on the men who were being held at the detention jail, alleging that they set their mattresses on fire to protest conditions, while U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar claimed the tragedy was a consequence of "irregular migration."

The deaths in Mexico came just hours after the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees urged the Biden administration not to adopt a proposed anti-asylum rule that would turn more refugees away at the border.

[This means our U.S. policy contributed to their wrongful detention, their abusive conditions without enough food and care, overcrowding, protesting, and being burned alive as guards walk away.]

Democracy Now! speaks with the U.S.-Mexico border-based journalist Luis Chaparro.

ABOUT: Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch livestream at democracynow.org M-F 8:00-9:00 am ET. Support independent media: democracynow.org/donate. Subscribe to daily email digest: democracynow.org/subscribe #DemocracyNow

No comments: