3,000 migrants begin protest march in Mexico

Roughly 3,000 migrants have begun a protest procession through Mexico toward Mexico City to demonstrate against detention centers and demand reforms to migrant treatment. 

The march of migrants — hailing mainly from Central America, Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia — started Sunday near the Guatemalan border. Though their stated destination is Mexico City, participants in similar marches have, in the past, headed further north to the U.S.-Mexico border.

The latest protest march comes after a deadly fire last month killed 39 migrants and injured 29 others at a Mexican migrant facility in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said migrants at the facility had set fire to their mattresses as part of a protest against a supposed transfer. 

Three officials from Mexico’s National Immigration Institute, a guard at the migrant center and the Venezuelan migrant accused of starting the fire are reportedly in custody, facing homicide charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.