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Migrants Set Fire to Camp During Mexican Government Raid Near US Border 

Migrants torched mattresses and blankets in protest during a raid at a camp near Chihuahua, Mexico. 

Migrants at a camp in Chihuahua, northern Mexico, set fire to blankets and mattresses early Saturday during a raid by government forces aiming to clear the site. 

The operation, which took place near the US border, occurred just days before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump. Trump has accused Mexico of inadequate efforts to curb migration to the US and threatened to impose tariffs. 

According to a Reuters witness, around 250 Mexican officials, including National Guard military police in anti-riot gear, surrounded the encampment at midnight. In response, migrants began setting fire to mattresses and blankets in protest. Some attempted to escape the site with babies and belongings. 

No injuries or fatalities were reported, and the blaze was extinguished in less than an hour. 

Mexico’s migration agency has yet to comment on the raid. However, a migration official, speaking anonymously, stated that the operation aimed to transport the migrants to Mexico’s southern border, where they would be instructed to return to their home countries. The number of detainees remains unclear. 

The camp, located about 220 miles (360 km) from Ciudad Juarez, a border city across from El Paso, Texas, housed around 150 migrants, including Venezuelan families heading north to the US. 

Venezuelan migrant Daniel Barrios, accompanied by a woman with a baby and a child carrying a sparkly blue backpack, described the scene as chaotic. “They surrounded the camp … they asked just to talk, that they were going to do an inspection and all that,” Barrios said. He questioned the timing, adding, “Is it logical to come with this whole police and military force, supposedly to do an inspection at a camp, when they could do it during the day?” 

Barrios stopped speaking as he noticed officials nearby, saying, “We have to move.” 

Another family fleeing the camp expressed fear and confusion. A woman sobbed while holding two children, while two men carried toddlers as red smoke billowed from the scene. 

“The police came, and migration officials. We got to this shelter today, and we don’t know what’s happening,” one man said. “We’re disoriented. We’re scared.”  

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