JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report) – The Catholic bishops of El Paso and Juarez on Monday called on border residents to keep their hearts open to the thousands of migrants who risk life and limb coming to the border.
The bishops made their plea at a Mass in Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral in memory of the 40 migrants who died and the 27 who were injured in a fire at a detention station on March 27, 2023, in Juarez. The blaze broke out during a protest by the detainees; two set fire to mattresses and the smoke quickly overcame dozens while government agents and security guards allegedly failed to open the cell.
Firefighters and police rescue migrants from an immigration station in Juarez, Chihuahua state on March 27, 2023, where at least 39 people were killed and dozens injured after a fire at the immigration station. (Photo by HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s a tremendous tragedy. These 40 young, aspiring lives were cut short. If we were to forget their loss, to just add them to the growing number of those who’ve died and forget the persons and families that continue to suffer, that would be a greater tragedy,” El Paso Bishop Mark J. Seitz said.
Juarez Bishop Jose Guadalupe Torres likened the migrants’ travails to the insults and affronts Jesus Christ received after leaving Galilee. He told the faithful to treat those fleeing oppression in other countries like they would treat Jesus.
Several dozen guests from Casa del Migrante – Juarez’s largest church-run shelter – sat in the front row at the Mass. “They’re tragedies you don’t expect, that leave families with great pain and a great void,” said Adrian, from Venezuela. “We must be united and keep going.”
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But Juan Cordero, another Venezuelan, urged migrants to avoid the dangers of falling prey to smugglers and corrupt government officials as they seek the American dream, by migrating legally.
“You must get an appointment. When you ask the United States for permission first, then you can go about freely,” Cordero said. “You come into a country where you hope to be welcome, you cannot be rude. If they set rules, you have to wait for your appointment.”
At least 11 people face criminal and administrative charges in connection with the deadly fire. One, Venezuelan migrant Jaison Daniel Catari Rivas, is accused of being the one who started the blaze. However, almost a year later, no one has been convicted and the commissioner of Mexico’s National Migration Institute continues to downplay his role. Francisco Garduño last week was in the border state of Coahuila, promoting his agency’s role in assisting migrants.
“The point is that a tragedy like this does not happen again, either here or anywhere else,” said the Rev. Francisco Bueno Guillen, director of Casa del Migrante. “Unfortunately, a lot of things are still up in the air. We continue to demand justice; we want those who might have had a hand in this to face the consequences.”
Blanca Navarrete, an activist with the Mexican human rights advocacy agency DHIA, said not all victims’ families – and few of the survivors – have received full restitution from the Mexican government in connection with the fire.
“It’s been a year and we’re still looking for justice. Only the families of victims from Guatemala have received compensation – not the ones from Honduras or El Salvador nor the survivors,” Navarrete said.
She added that most of the survivors received humanitarian visas in the United States but some decided to return to their countries of origin since the fire.
Navarrete said INM Garduño should resign until his prosecution on administrative charges is decided. “If he is under investigation for illicit activities while exercising his duties, if he (had anything to do) with the homicides of the 40, he should not be in charge of INM,” she said.
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