The deaths of at least 39 migrants at a Mexican detention center near the U.S.-Mexico border this week shows that immigration policies in Mexico and the U.S. are failing miserably in addressing the historic number of migrants escaping oppressive regimes.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Wednesday vowed that his government would conduct a thorough investigation and punish those responsible for the deaths and possible human rights violations of detainees at the migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez. This is a necessary move, especially given that a video authenticated by Mexico’s Interior Minister shows two guards abandoning detainees in a locked room as a fire rapidly spreads at the detention center.
In addition to an investigation into the fire, these migrant deaths call for government officials on both sides of the border to reexamine the restrictive immigration policies that played a role in this tragedy.
