ABOVE: A fire at Refugio del Migrante in Mexicali, Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Juan Gutiérrez)
A fire destroyed a lesbian-run migrant shelter in the Mexican border city of Mexicali on Friday morning.
Local media reports indicate the blaze began at Refugio del Migrante July 9 around 1:40 a.m.
The majority of the 152 migrants — including 22 minors — who the fire displaced are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. They all escaped the fire without injury.
Centro Comunitario de Bienestar Social (COBINA), a Mexicali-based group that serves LGBTQ people and other vulnerable groups, ran the shelter. It also runs two other migrant shelters in the city that borders Calexico, Calif., in California’s Imperial Valley.
COBINA President Altagracia Tamayo told La Voz de la Frontera, a local newspaper, it appears as though an electrical short circuit in one of the shelter’s bedrooms sparked the fire.
COBINA and organizers of Mexicali’s annual Pride events are raising funds to help the displaced migrants. They are also accepting donations of clothes, shoes, toilet paper, personal hygiene products, bottled water and canned food.
The International Community Foundation is among the groups that are raising funds to help the displaced migrants. They can also register with the U.N. Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration for additional assistance.
¿Tienes más información sobre lo que pasó y cuando?
— Michael K. Lavers (He/Él) (@mklavers81) July 10, 2021
The Washington Blade in January 2019 visited Posada del Migrante, another COBINA-run migrant shelter that is a few blocks away from the one that burned down. Posada del Migrante and the third COBINA migrant shelter continue to operate.
