The Facts
- The Mexican government said Sunday that it will pay 140M pesos ($8.2M) to the families of the 40 men — from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, and Venezuela — who died at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.
- According to Mexican authorities, the fire started after a migrant, who was being held along with 67 other men, set fire to the mattress in his cell to protest his potential deportation.
- Though detention center workers released 15 female migrants, they didn't try to free the men, with video footage showing guards apparently running away from the fire without making any attempt to unlock the doors of cells where migrants were held.
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The Spin
Narrative A
Though some authorities deserve the blame and to be punished for this unnecessary tragedy, this is a show of good faith and accountability from the Mexican government. Prosecutors are going after several low-to high-level agents involved, orchestrating new accountability and safety measures, and compensating the victims' families.
Narrative B
Though the blame game surrounding this fire has put irregular migration and the behavior of both migrants and Mexican officials in the spotlight, it still misses an important factor contributing to this tragedy. While not causing these deaths alone, American border policies have aggravated long-standing problems by restraining legal entry and failing to discourage migrants from attempting to enter the US.
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