Bishops lament ‘terrible tragedy’ that left at least 38 migrants dead in Mexico

Bishop José Guadalupe Torres of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, expressed in a March 28 statement his deepest condolences for the 38 migrants who died “due to the fire in the temporary residence of the National Institute of Migration here in our city.”

The coordinators of the bishops of Texas and Mexico — Eugenio Lira, the bishop of Matamoros, Mexico, and Gustavo García-Siller, archbishop of San Antonio, Texas — also “deeply regretted the death of the migrant brothers.”

A fire occurred in the lodging area of the temporary residence of Chihuahua. So far, 38 deaths and 29 injuries have been reported.

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference also lamented the tragedy and expressed its sorrow in a March 28 statement but pointed out that “these are not isolated cases” but rather “are closely related to what happened in 2020 when a Guatemalan national lost his life at the Tenosique Migration Station in Tabasco state, as well as what happened at the Piedras Negras Station in Coahuila state in 2022.”