The fire that killed 38 people at a Mexico immigration detention centre occurred as Western hemisphere countries are under pressure. Which is to handle the unprecedented number of people fleeing their homes.
Mexico has expanded its network of dozens of detention centres. While collaborating with the US to limit the movement of asylum-seekers through its territory to the US border. Including Ciudad Juarez, where authorities said migrants set mattresses on fire in a detention centre late Monday after learning they would be deported.
WHY WERE THESE IMMIGRANTS DETAINED?
Although specifics are not yet available, Mexico has emerged as the world’s third most common destination for asylum seekers. Trailing only the United States and Germany. However, it is still primarily a transit nation for those traveling to the United States.
Asylum seekers in Mexico must remain in the state where they apply. Resulting in a large number of people being stranded without employment in Tapachula. Near the country’s southern border with Guatemala.
Tens of thousands also congregate in border towns such as Ciudad Juarez. Often arriving illegally after perilous journeys or to pay someone off. A vast network of attorneys, fixers, and middlemen has emerged to provide documents and counsel to migrants, who can afford to pay to expedite the process.
According to a report released last month by the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin, over 2,200 people are believed to be in Ciudad Juarez migrant shelters, with many more living elsewhere in the city after arriving from Guatemala, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and El Salvador.
Last year, Mexico deported over 106,000 people, with roughly eight out of every ten sent to Guatemala or Honduras.
US POLICIES
According to U.N. figures, the Trump and Biden administrations have depended increasingly and heavily on Mexico to stem a flow of migrants that has made the United States the world’s most popular destination for asylum seekers since 2017.
According to Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, Guatemalans made up the majority of those slain or injured in Monday’s fire. Other countries represented included Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.
Guatemalans have been disproportionately affected by the United States’ policy of returning illegal immigrants to Mexico, which has been in force since March 2020. The practise barred them from seeking asylum on the basis of preventing COVID-19.
Guatemalans and some other nationalities are returned to Mexico, while people from other countries are frequently released in the United States to prosecute their cases in immigration court. This is due to the high expenses and diplomatic difficulties of returning them home.
