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NEW YORK After learning that a fire at an immigration detention center in northern Mexico killed more than three dozen migrants, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso said the tragedy underscores the urgency of addressing the complex humanitarian crisis at the southern border.

Our brother and sister migrants, who are in many cases fleeing extreme violence, persecution, and extreme poverty, deserve dignity, compassion, and the protection of their human rights as children of God, Seitz, who is the U.S. Bishops Conference Migration Committee chair, said in a statement. As a faith community we are called to respond to their suffering with love, empathy, and support.

The fire at the National Migration Institute in Ciudad Jurez the city bordering El Paso killed at least 40 migrants. It started around 10 p.m. after migrants set mattresses ablaze in protest of their pending deportation, according to Mexico President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador.

29 others were injured in the fire and are in delicate-serious condition, the institute said in a statement. There were 68 men from Central and South America held in the facility at the time of the fire. As a protest, at the door of the shelter, they put mattresses and set them on fire, and they did not imagine that this was going to cause this terrible tragedy, Lpez Obrador said at a news conference. We assume it was because they found out they were going to be deported.

Seitz offered his deepest and most heartfelt condolences to the families of the migrants who died and extended prayers for the swift recovery of the individuals who were injured. He also pledged to continue his advocacy for more humane immigration policies.

As we mourn this devastating loss, I call upon people of all faiths and goodwill to join in prayer for the victims and their families, Seitz said. May our collective efforts lead to meaningful change and help prevent such tragedies from occurring.

Directly across from El Paso, Ciudad Jurez has long been a hot spot for migrants to gather before they attempt to enter the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection have encountered almost 225,000 migrants trying to illegally cross into El Paso between Oct. 1, 2022, and February 2023, according to agency data. Overall, there have been almost 900,000 total encounters over that time, the data shows. Dylan Corbett, executive director of the El Paso-based Hope Border Institute a faith-based immigration advocacy organization that does humanitarian work in both El Paso and Ciudad Jurez told Crux that the fire is a direct result of U.S. pressure on Mexico to up its immigration enforcement, especially at the northern part of the border. Corbett said Hope has done humanitarian work at the National Migration Institute in Ciudad Jurez in the past, but has not had access in recent months amid the crackdown prompted by the U.S. government.

We know theres a direct line that you can draw from the Biden administration pressuring the government of Ciudad Jurez to increase enforcement to the death that weve seen, Corbett said.

The strategy that weve implemented includes as part of its overhead death, so its an indictment of our approach, Corbett continued. Death cant be the price of immigration enforcement and theres nothing stopping us from putting in place a humane and effective and safe process at the border. Corbett and other immigration advocates have long been critical of the Biden administrations border entry deterrent policies that limit migrants ability to seek asylum, arguing that they are not just illegal but ineffective given the desperation of many migrants. They have argued at a time of record number of migrant crossings at the border that the administration and Congress need to work on comprehensive reform to the nations immigration system and work to address the root causes that force people to migrate in the first place. In the short term, advocates say more effective legal pathways are needed.

The system we allowed to be created in our name is predicated on pain and death and that is what killed them, Corbett said. We have to work to put in place a more just system.

Seitz also works with migrants on both sides of the border, calling Ciudad Jurez El Pasos sister city. He said in the aftermath of the fire, he has been in communication with the bishop of Ciudad Jurez. I have been in contact with Bishop Jos Guadalupe Torres Campos, expressed my prayer solidarity with him and the faithful of his diocese, and offered support to him and the people in his pastoral care in the Diocese of Ciudad Jurez, Seitz said.

Follow John Lavenburg on Twitter:@johnlavenburg

Originally posted here:
Deadly fire at Jurez detention center shows 'urgency' of addressing ... - Crux Now