Fire at border camp kills 39 migrants waiting for Joe Biden’s immigration policy change

Dozens of people died in a fire at a Mexican migrant detention centre near the US border, where crowds of asylum seekers gathered waiting for a change of policy on crossing into the US promised by Joe Biden.

Some 39 people died, while 29 were injured and are in “delicate-serious” condition after the blaze broke out overnight on Monday at the facility in Ciudad Juarez, which is across from Grande River in El Paso, Texas - a major crossing point for migrants.

It appeared the fire was sparked during a protest by migrants who had been informed they were going to be deported.

“In the door of the shelter they put some mattresses and set them on fire,” said Andrés López Obrador, Mexico’s president. “They never imagined that would cause this tragedy.”

The fire, one of the most lethal to hit the country in years, occurred as the US and Mexico battle to cope with record levels of crossings at their shared border.

Under Donald Trump, the former US president, a pandemic-era health measure was introduced that restricted migration at the southern border. That measure, known as Title 42, has allowed migrants who might otherwise qualify for asylum to be swiftly expelled at the border.

The Biden administration last year announced its intention to end the use of the policy, but the US Supreme Court ordered it to remain in place for now.

Since Mr Biden’s announcement, the number of migrants in Ciudad Juárez awaiting the possible lifting of the restrictions has swelled.

There has been a build-up of migrants in Mexican border cities in recent weeks as authorities try to process asylum requests using a new US government app known as CBP One.

Earlier this month, American officials stopped hundreds of migrants from entering the country after a large group in Ciudad Juárez broke through Mexican lines.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire and the governmental National Human Rights Commission had been called in to help.

Reports in the Mexican press suggested a large number of the victims were from Central America and Mexico, millions of whom have abandoned their economically devastated country in recent years in search of a better life.

“I was here since one in the afternoon waiting for the father of my children, and when 10pm rolled around smoke started coming out from everywhere,” 31-year-old Viangly Infante, a Venezuelan national, told Reuters.

Her husband, Eduard Caraballo, was in a holding cell inside the facility when the fire started. He survived by dousing himself in water and pressing against a door, said Ms Infante, who added that she saw many dead bodies lying on the ground.

A Mexican official said migrants from Guatemala and Honduras were also among the dead.

The blaze in Ciudad Juarez is one of the deadliest incidents to afflict migrants in Mexico in the past few decades.

In December 2021, at least 55 people were killed and dozens were injured when a truck packed with migrants flipped over in the southern border state of Chiapas.