Dodgers no longer the (only) juggernaut in the NL West

• March 28, 2023

The Dodgers and San Diego Padres have known each other for a long time. But their relationship status has recently changed.

Now – it’s complicated.

For the past decade, the Dodgers have been the big-market powerhouse flaunting its privileges, collecting stars, running up payroll numbers that few if any other franchises dared to match and entering each season as clear-cut division favorites and often the short-odds choice to win it all. The Padres sat in their seaside small market, watched the waves and nursed an inferiority complex.

“I’ve been on both sides and I do recall being on that other side feeling like the little brother vs. the big brother,” acknowledged Dave Roberts who spent two seasons on the Padres’ roster as a player and five more as a coach before becoming the Dodgers’ manager in 2016. “I can say that because I’ve lived it.”

Things have changed as the 2023 season begins. The Padres are the ones collecting stars – Xander Bogaerts this winter joining Manny Machado, Juan Soto and (when his suspension has been served) Fernando Tatis Jr. not to mention Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove in the starting rotation. The Padres are the ones with the robust payroll, throwing money around at a rate only the New York teams have topped this year. The Padres are the ones with a potential mental edge after prevailing in the postseason last fall.

And the Padres are the ones, in many quarters, being touted as favorites over the Dodgers to win the National League West and contend for a championship this season.

“Don’t really care who’s the favorite or not,” Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw said this spring when asked about the Padres’ ascent.

“They made splashy moves. Great for them. They’ve still got to go out and win. You’ve seen it in the past with teams where they make splashy moves but they don’t go out and win,” infielder Max Muncy said.

“You can have whatever team you want on paper but you’ve still got to go out there and do it between the lines.”

The Dodgers have produced some mighty fine paper over the past decade.

Last year, their Opening Day lineup featured eight players who have been named All-Stars (including starting pitcher Walker Buehler) and three former league MVPs. The talent that packed up and left Camelback Ranch a year ago was so impressive that shortstop Trea Turner referenced the ‘Monstars’ of “Space Jam” fame – a powerhouse team that also lost its biggest game of the year.

This year, the Dodgers prepare to open the season as defending division champs for the ninth time in the past 10 years – but not quite looking like those juggernauts of the past.

“I do agree,” said Kershaw, a 16-year veteran usually reluctant to compare teams year to year. “I think on paper last year we knew we were going to win a lot of games. But I don’t necessarily know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing – to come out of camp and just know that you’re that good. It’s different too as a player. Regardless of what everybody thinks a player is going to do based on track record, you still have to go perform. Like, even though Mookie and Freddie are all-world baseball players, they don’t think they just have to show up and play.

“There’s that element with everybody. You don’t know if this is going to be somebody’s best year, you don’t know if it’s going to be somebody’s worst year. I think with that, it creates some optimism, some excitement that we have some unknowns with the team. Which I think might be good. Obviously, we think positively of the guys who are going to get a chance but might not have a track record. If they perform, we could be pretty dang good.”

The Dodgers almost certainly will be good. Whether they rise to the level of “pretty dang good” again will likely be determined by the answers to more questions than they typically have had entering recent seasons.

Can their bargain-bin collection of veterans on one-year contracts (Noah Syndergaard, Jason Heyward, David Peralta and J.D. Martinez) offset the subtractions from last year’s team (Trea Turner, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger and Tyler Anderson, in particular)?

Having already sustained the loss of Gavin Lux to a season-ending knee injury this spring, can the Dodgers absorb another injury to a core player?

And are the young players being given opportunities (Miguel Vargas, James Outman and Ryan Pepiot to begin, with Gavin Stone, Bobby Miller and Michael Busch lined up behind them) ready to contribute to a team with championship aspirations?

“I think that’s the thing – just a lot of unknowns,” outfielder Mookie Betts agreed. “We don’t really know. Those are things we can’t control a lot. You just have to let the story play out.”

The Dodgers have been very good at writing feel-good stories during the regular season. But they have had trouble with the final act, losing in the first round of the playoffs after franchise record-setting regular seasons twice in the past four seasons. If MLB’s tinkering with the postseason format has added randomness to October, the Dodgers have been the leading victims.

“It’s no secret that more teams in the playoffs helps MLB make money. That’s no secret,” Kershaw said. “Do I agree with rewarding teams that have mediocre seasons by making the playoffs? I don’t know. But that’s where we are with that.

“It’s whoever’s hot at the time.”

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The Washington Nationals of 2019, Atlanta Braves of 2021 and last year’s 87-win National League champion Philadelphia Phillies all attest to that.

Only five teams in MLB history have won as many games as last year’s 111-win Dodgers. Only one of those teams (the 114-win Yankees of 1998) also won the World Series. The previous four won an average of 16½ fewer games the next season. But two of them won World Series titles in the follow-up season.

Sixteen fewer wins would still make the Dodgers a 95-win team (a number they exceeded in four of the past five full seasons) – pretty dang good and certainly enough to get them into the postseason. But will it be enough to maintain the power position in their relationship with the headline-grabbing, big-spending Padres?

“What they’ve done is great,” Kershaw said. “They’ve improved their team. They’ve gotten big-name guys. They’ve got good players. They’ve extended some of their guys. What they’re doing is great. It’s great for the game and it’s great for players individually.

“I still think we can beat them.”

Winningest teams in MLB history (and their follow-up seasons):

2001 Seattle Mariners – 116-46 (Lost in ALCS)

2002 Mariners – 93-69 (Third in AL West)

1906 Chicago Cubs – 116-36 (Lost in the World Series)

1907 Cubs – 107-45 (Won World Series)

1998 New York Yankees – 114-48 (Won World Series)

1999 Yankees – 98-64 (Won World Series)

1954 Cleveland Indians – 111-43 (Lost World Series)

1955 Indians – 93-61 (Second in the American League)

2022 Dodgers – 111-51 (Lost in NL Division Series)

2023 Dodgers – ???

​ Orange County Register 

The 2023 Dodgers, position by position

• March 28, 2023

ROTATION

The Dodgers’ starting pitchers have had the lowest ERA in MLB four times in the past six seasons (including the past two years) despite the names in that rotation changing on an annual basis. Three All-Stars have been subtracted from last year’s rotation. Walker Buehler is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Tyler Anderson left for the Angels as a free agent. And Tony Gonsolin won’t be ready to start the season on time after a spring ankle injury. But Cy Young Award candidate Julio Urias returns to front the rotation with future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw rolling into the season healthy. Dustin May and Noah Syndergaard have the same challenge – regain their pre-Tommy John surgery forms a year farther removed from that ordeal. The difference this year seems to be that what depth the Dodgers have is largely young and unproven. But those young arms – Ryan Pepiot, Michael Grove, Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone – are dynamic.

BULLPEN

The Dodgers have said they are committed to entering the season without a designated closer. Whether he eventually emerges as the closer or not, Evan Phillips is far and away their most important reliever. Released by the Baltimore Orioles and waived by the Tampa Bay Rays just days apart in August 2021, Phillips has blossomed with the Dodgers into one of the best relievers in the National League. He held batters to a .155 average and a .430 OPS over 63 innings last year. The Dodgers will rely on him even more with veteran Blake Treinen recovering from shoulder surgery and Daniel Hudson’s return from knee surgery delayed. The options around Phillips are solid. Brusdar Graterol, Alex Vesia and Yency Almonte were all very effective in 2022, but it all revolves around Phillips.

INFIELD

The Dodgers let two elite shortstops leave for mega-millions elsewhere – Corey Seager following the 2021 season, Trea Turner this past winter – at least in part because they felt they had a viable alternative in Gavin Lux. That plan was blown up when Lux suffered a knee injury this spring that will sideline him for the 2023 season. An infield already in flux underwent further renovation. Miguel Rojas will take down the bulk of the playing time at shortstop now – a defensive improvement over Lux but another blow to a lineup that already subtracted Trea and Justin Turner. A return to his pre-elbow injury form from Max Muncy (now the everyday third baseman) would help offset those lineup losses and rookie Miguel Vargas will get every opportunity to fulfill his offensive potential while developing defensively at second base. Meanwhile, at first base, another MVP-level performance from Freddie Freeman in his second season as a Dodger is the expectation.

OUTFIELD

It’s hard to believe, but this is already Mookie Betts’ fourth season as a Dodger. They have gotten their money’s worth. Betts has finished in the top five of the National League MVP voting two of the first three years, won two Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers and made the All-Star team each year there was one. The group to Betts’ right, however, is in flux. With Cody Bellinger gone, the Dodgers will turn to platoon arrangements in center as well as left field. Some combination of left-handers Jason Heyward, David Peralta and James Outman and right-handers Trayce Thompson and Chris Taylor will be pieced together on a daily basis. The results in the spring were not always encouraging as Taylor struggled and Heyward showed uneven progress as the Dodgers’ hitting coaches try to salvage his swing.

CATCHER

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has proclaimed Will Smith one of the top three catchers in baseball and the combination of Smith and Austin Barnes the best catching tandem in baseball. It’s not as hyperbolic as it sounds. Smith should have been an All-Star last season when he hit 24 home runs and drove in 87 runs with an .807 OPS. He is a rarity in baseball these days – a catcher who provides middle-of-the-order offensive production as well. Barnes, meanwhile, is a popular target for the Dodgers’ pitching staff.

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BENCH

The Dodgers’ depth took a big hit with the season-ending knee injury to Gavin Lux. With Lux out, Miguel Rojas will be the primary shortstop instead of the multi-position backup he was originally slated to be. The rest of the bench figures to be the rotating group of platooned outfielders. The signing of J.D. Martinez represents a philosophical change by the Dodgers. Martinez will be the dedicated DH, a position the Dodgers used to rotate players through in the past.

MANAGER

Shocking as their first-round exit from the postseason was last October, coming as it did on the heels of a historic 111-win regular season, Dave Roberts largely escaped blame. The loss to the Padres was “an organizational failure” as Andrew Friedman put it and less time was spent this winter performing an autopsy on Roberts’ postseason decision-making than previous winters. But the pressure will be on Roberts again this season (his eighth). The roster is less ‘turn-key’ than in the past with more young players being asked to produce and a closer-less bullpen to be managed.

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers 2023 regular-season schedule

• March 28, 2023

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​ Orange County Register 

Occupational licensing needs real reform

• March 28, 2023

One-in-five Americans need to get a government license in order to do their jobs. While supporters often claim licensing is important for health and safety or critical to ensuring high-quality services are provided, such claims often fall apart under scrutiny. Occupational licensing rules are often imposed at the behest of existing professionals looking to restrict competition by imposing a barrier to entry, with little evidence such licensing is otherwise needed.

The Archbridge Institute has released a new report examining occupational licensing across America, ranking the states plus the District of Columbia according to the barriers imposed on workers and the extent of licensing requirements.

The report displays both the broad similarities and differences in how and whether states impose barriers or licensing requirements on different professions.

Every state and the District of Columbia, for example, require government-issued licenses for people who wish to work as attorneys, chiropractors, dentists and psychologists, for example.

But only eight states require government-issued licenses for drug counselors, 10 states require nutritionists to get a license, 24 states require tattoo artists to be licensed and 24 require car salesmen to be licensed.

The Archridge Institute notably ranked California 11th in the country for requiring the most licenses of the occupations they examined.

Underscoring the fact that this is not a partisan problem, the Institute ranked Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma and Washington State as those with the most barriers and licensing requirements in the country.

“California’s most uniquely licensed occupation is Fire/Life/Safety Technician, which is licensed only in California,” the report notes.

Past comparisons of the states have yielded even worse showings for California. The Institute for Justice’s “License to Work” series of reports, focused on low- and middle-income occupations, have generally ranked California in the top three most extensively licensed states in the country.  The Cato Institute’s occupational licensing rankings, based on a select set of occupations, have also placed California in the top two, behind Texas.

As both the Obama and Trump administrations acknowledged, occupational licensing can often be a barrier to entry which limits competition and raises costs for consumers without necessarily providing much in the way of benefits for public health, safety or even quality of service.

States must seriously evaluate whether licensing is necessary.

California does have periodic sunset reviews of its occupational licensing schemes, but they tend to be perfunctory and those most incentivized to speak up during such reviews are those who benefit from licensing. Namely, the professionals who are already licensed and the professional associations incentivized to protect the turf of its members.

This is not a partisan issue. This is a common sense issue. California needs to revisit occupational licensing.

​ Orange County Register 

CSUF’s Center for Leadership renamed to honor a distinguished alum

• March 28, 2023

The contributions of a CSUF alum, an accomplished leader in a wide range of endeavors, will help to ensure that current and future Titans have the tools to become leaders themselves in their chosen professions.

During a ceremony held March 15 in the courtyard outside the CSUF College of Business and Economics, the college’s Center for Leadership was renamed the Giles-O’Malley Center for Leadership.

The center is named for 1970 CSUF graduate Terry Giles and his wife, Kalli O’Malley.

“I am feeling so humbled and so grateful and so incredibly lucky,” Giles said of the naming honor.

Owner and president of Giles Enterprises and member of CSUF’s Philanthropic Foundation Board of Governors, Giles provided a $1 million gift to further the Center for Leadership’s mission and activities.

“This is a center not just for our business school,” Cal State Fullerton President Fram Virjee said. “This is the center for the building of the future of this campus. Every student should be and will be affected by this Center for Leadership. The opportunity will be provided for them to learn what it means to be a leader.”

Along with Virjee, notables in attendance included Jay Barbuto, the center’s director and professor; Sridhar Sundaram, dean of the College of Business and Economics; Charlie Zhang, real estate developer and founder of Pick Up Stix; and many of the center’s corporate partners.

Giles, 74, grew up in an impoverished family and attended 21 schools in a 10-year period before going on to earn a debate scholarship at CSUF and a law degree from Pepperdine.

Giles’ achievements include the establishment of 35 businesses, one being a successful criminal law firm.

He owned the third-largest Canon copier distributorship and turned a failing Toyota dealership into the world’s fifth-largest.

The CSUF alum established Giles Enterprises, a holding company for his family’s array of business ventures.

Giles credited his success in large part to the education he received at CSUF, particularly on the university’s debate team.

“My experiences in the courtroom and the boardroom would not have happened at all, I don’t think, if it hadn’t been for debate at Cal State Fullerton,” Giles said.

In 1994, Giles was presented with the Horatio Alger Award, given by the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans to leaders who’ve displayed personal initiative and perseverance, embrace the free-enterprise system and aspire to achieve a better future, often in the face of adversity.

“When you think about where he started and what he has achieved, the award is almost handwritten for someone like Terry,” Barbuto said. ” He has a great eye for success and knows a great investment when he sees it. He is a master of finding a way.”

Giles’ endowment will go toward helping the center’s current initiatives and programs expand and grow, Barbuto said.

The center offers an executive speaker series, executive shadowing and networking opportunities with the center’s corporate partners that include the Honda Center, the Anaheim Ducks, Southern California Edison, Walt Disney International, the Orange County Business Council and others.

The center also curates a local television program on YouTube, “The Leadership Voice.” The show engages Orange County-area executives in discussions on leadership excellence and development while incorporating field research by CSUF faculty.

Each episode features a business or community leader who shares their experiences and knowledge to provide viewers with insight into leadership ideas. Giles himself was featured in an episode titled “Become One of the Fifteen Percent.”

The center also hosts an annual Leadership Awards banquet that recognizes Orange County and Southern California organizations in different categories of leadership.

Giles became involved with the Center for Leadership about 15 years ago when he was asked by other CSUF alumni if he would help fund the new center, which was in the planning stages at the time.

“It has turned out to be one of the best decisions that I was talked into in my entire life,” Giles said.

He also praised the work of Virjee and Barbuto for the center’s growth and impact on the CSUF campus and the community.

“The Center for Leadership wouldn’t be what it is today if it wasn’t for the hard work and dedication and passion that Jay brings to the table,” Giles said. “I’m so grateful the school brought him in to drive the program. I can’t say enough in appreciation for the job he has done.”

Giles’ $1 million gift, along with a $250,000 donation from Zhang and significant donations from philanthropists MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett, will help fund the construction of a three-story building just east of the College of Business and Economics that will be the Center For Leadership’s new home.

With construction scheduled to get underway later this year, the new center will feature a library, auditorium, conference room and faculty and staff offices.

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​ Orange County Register 

Trail system in Saddleback Wilderness area debuts

• March 28, 2023

Mother Nature reclaimed the hilly area not far from Irvine Lake that was once a popular motocross course, and now that the natural habitat has been preserved, it is once again opening to people.

This time visitors will be able to hike or mountain bike the 3.3 miles of trails that will be open in the newly debuted Saddleback Wilderness during special access events hosted by the OC Parks system.

The moment officials cut the ribbon on the new Saddleback Wilderness on Monday, March 27, 70-year-old Janice Bora took off running up the dirt path.

Bora ran past OC Third District Supervisor Don Wagner, headed up a steep path and disappeared behind a curve as the rest of the dignitaries and invited volunteers started hiking up the trail to explore along behind her.

The new trail system is part of OC Park’s Irvine Ranch Open Space and was donated in 2014 to the county by the Irvine Company.

Upon receiving the land donation, the county “went through a robust environmental evaluation process,” said OC Parks Operations Manager John Gump in an email. “Once complete, we were able to design a trail system that avoided locations with sensitive resources, while also doing our best to have trails reach points of interest and scenic viewpoints for the public to enjoy.”

From the late 1960s to 1984, Saddleback Park used much of the land for a “motor playground” enjoyed by motocross riders, off-road trucks and buggies. It was one of the largest motocross tracks on the West Coast. But liability concerns and other pressures ultimately closed it, according to online histories.

In the years that followed, it was left to return to its natural state.

Gump said you can still see remnants of the former track in the trails. They follow parts of the race track and roads that visitors used to watch the competitors.

Saddleback Wilderness is being advertised as offering 360-degree views from the ocean to the mountains.

Volunteer Roxanne Bradley said, “the scenery is great and you get a good view,” but she especially like the blossoming flowers.

The Irvine Ranch Open Space it is part of includes about 25,000 acres in the eastern foothills of Orange County that stretch from the natural areas near the 91 Freeway and 241 Toll Road connection and Santiago Oaks Regional Park down to where the 133 Toll Road branches from the 241 and near Limestone Canyon.

Much of it is strictly protected because of the rare and sensitive nature of its habitats and areas are only open to the public during special access days and events.

“Many OC Parks facilities are encumbered by conservation plans that prioritize habitat protection while also securing public access and establishing approved trail systems,” Gump said. “When OC Parks received the land donation from the Irvine Company in 2014, it presented a unique opportunity to offer additional trail options for local hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians.”

Developing the parking lot and trail amenities, as well as performing the required environmental studies, cost about $514,000, about half of which was funded by an endowment that came with the land. The rest was funded by OC Parks.

Staff Photographer Jeff Gritchen contributed to this story.

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​ Orange County Register 

This ‘Schitt’s Creek’ writer has a new small-town series. Here’s ‘The Big Door Prize’

• March 28, 2023

The small town of Deerfield is a comfortably ordinary place until a mysterious machine called the Blue Morpho arrives. In exchange for a few quarters – and providing one’s Social Security number and fingerprints – the machine promises to reveal a person’s life potential. 

Soon the town is in a tizzy as people learn what their future could, or should, hold – a person might be a magician, storyteller, hero, liar or royalty. In some cases, this information, which is dispensed by the machine onto a card, can rapidly upend a person’s entire life. 

That’s the starting point for “The Big Door Prize,” a new comedy series based on M. O. Walsh’s book of the same name. Premiering on Apple TV+ on March 29, the show follows Dusty Hubbard (Chris O’Dowd), a local teacher, his extended family and neighbors. Each episode dives deeper into the story of a new character, like Jacob (Sammy Fourlas), a high school student whose twin brother – the local superstar athlete – recently died, or Father Reuben (Damon Gupton), the new priest in town. 

The series was created by David West Read, who spoke recently by video about creating the show. Read previously wrote for “Schittt’s Creek,” and some characters, like Jacob’s dad, the widowed Beau (Aaron Roman Weiner) or Giorgio (Josh Segarra), are over-the-top in a way that’s reminiscent of that much-loved series, but mostly the show’s tone is quieter and more thoughtful. 

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. What would your card say?

If this machine existed, I hope it would say “writer.” I don’t really think I’m capable of doing anything else. But as the show demonstrates, knowing you’ve reached your peak is not the happiest thing either.

Q. Would you put your Social Security number and fingerprints into a mysterious machine? That seems crazier to me than believing what the cards say.

In this modern age, at a certain point I think we all say, “Well, I guess my privacy is not something I can hang onto anymore.”

I give up a lot of personal information on a regular basis and sign agreements that I don’t read. So if everyone in town was doing this and making huge changes as a result I’d probably get sucked in. 

Q. What made you want to adapt this book?

I love things that blend comedy and pathos, and I love light sci-fi, where it’s our world with maybe one unnatural element. This is almost like the movie, “Big,” where a machine comes into a very natural, grounded world. It’s more about what people do as a result of the machine than the machine itself.

This book has this amazing premise but there’s also a whole cast of characters and there’s the idea of viewing this through the lens of all these different people. That made it feel like it would have legs for a series. Going deep on a different character the focus of each episode while still keeping the overarching story on the Hubbard family was part of my original pitch.

We also enjoy giving each character their own visual language and musical style in their episode. Beau’s card says “Sheriff,” and so his has a spaghetti Western theme and some of the shots are like from a John Ford movie, with references to classic Westerns. 

Q. How many of the life potential cards are from the book and how many did you create?

It’s a mix. There were some we loved from the book that we adapted to the series and then we had a brainstorming day in the writers’ room to think about anything potential might be and what could go on the cards. The doctor getting “undertaker” came out of our writers’ room – it made us laugh and then suddenly we had the idea for a character. 

The series is necessarily something different. The book has an ending and explanation and I wanted to build our own mythology and give ourselves the longest runway possible for this story.

After the pilot, basically none of the stories in the season are from the book. We have spun off so far so we don’t have to worry about what we did or didn’t use from the book. We’re filming something completely new.

Q. When an intriguing character appears in someone else’s episode do you think, “Oh, we should give her an episode” or is it all plotted out?

We knew which big stories we wanted to tell in the first season and are planting those characters in little moments in the first few episodes. But over the course of shooting, when actor meets role and something suddenly sparks, you think, “Hey, they could hold their own episode one day, even if we don’t have it yet.”

Q. Were you surprised by how good Sammy Fourlas was, considering his background as a TikTok star?

I never thought we’d cast a TikTok person. I don’t even have a TikTok account and I feel so old even saying TikTok. It’s amazing having someone like him with actors like Crystal [R. Fox] who has decades of stage and screen experience. Sammy has never done a movie or TV show, but he was the most grounded, natural, talented actor. Maybe more people will be discovered that way. I’m a believer.

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Q. How much do you think about dialing up or down some of the more outsized characters? 

I still consider those bigger characters grounded in some truth because they’re being performative in their world for a specific reason. Beau is dealing with the loss of his son after the loss of his wife and he feels untethered in his universe. Adopting this cowboy persona works because westerns are a world of good and evil and everything is simple and it makes him feel attached to something he understands. So even though it’s ridiculous to see a guy turning his garage into a saloon and walking around in a cowboy hat and boots, it comes from a real place. 

Q. How different would this have been in a bigger town or in Brooklyn or L.A.?

If this machine showed up in a big city, it might not have any impact. When there’s one new thing in a small town, it’s the only thing they’ve got. Everyone knows everything about everyone. They’re sharing what card they got with each other, and it becomes self-fulfilling in a way – if your card was true for you then maybe mine will be true for me. And then they work themselves up into a small-town frenzy. 

You wonder who’s going to lie about their card, who most wants you to know what’s on their card, who’s going to tell you their card means something other than what it means. We’re trying to explore all of them. 

Q. Why does getting a card change everyone’s behavior?

People start thinking about what their card would be and what they want it to be and then reacting to what it actually says. The show is about how the machine makes you dig deeper in getting to know yourself. 

​ Orange County Register 

Mexico: Migrants lit mattresses on fire, 39 dead near US border

• March 28, 2023

By MARÍA VERZA

MEXICO CITY — Migrants fearing deportation set mattresses ablaze at an immigration detention center in northern Mexico, starting a fire that left 39 dead, the president said Tuesday following one of the the deadliest incidents ever at an immigration lockup in the country.

Hours after the fire broke out late Monday, rows of bodies were laid out under shimmery silver sheets outside the facility in Ciudad Juarez, which is across from El Paso, Texas, and a major crossing point for migrants. Ambulances, firefighters and vans from the morgue swarmed the scene.

Thirty-nine people died and 29 were injured and are in “delicate-serious” condition, according to the National Immigration Institute. There were 68 men from Central and South America held in the facility at the time of the fire, the agency said. A Guatemalan official said many may have been from that Central American country.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the fire was started by migrants inside the facility in protest after learning they would be deported.

“They never imagined that this would cause this terrible misfortune,” López Obrador said, adding that the director of country’s immigration agency was on the scene.

Tensions between authorities and migrants had apparently been running high in recent weeks in Ciudad Juarez, where shelters are full of people waiting for opportunities to cross into the U.S. or who have requested asylum there and are waiting out the process.

More than 30 migrant shelters and other advocacy organizations published an open letter March 9 that complained of a criminalization of migrants and asylum seekers in the city. It accused authorities of abuse and using excessive force in rounding up migrants, complaining that municipal police were questioning people in the street about their immigration status without cause.

The high level of frustration in Ciudad Juarez was evident earlier this month when hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants acting on false rumors that the United States would allow them to enter the country tried to force their way across one of the international bridges to El Paso. U.S. authorities blocked their attempts.

The national immigration agency said Tuesday that it “energetically rejects the actions that led to this tragedy” without any further explanation of what those actions might have been.

In recent years, as Mexico has stepped up efforts to stem the flow migration to the U.S. border under pressure from the American government, the agency has struggled with overcrowding in its facilities. And the country’s immigration lockups have seen protests and riots from time to time.

Mostly Venezuelan migrants rioted inside an immigration center in Tijuana in October that had to be controlled by police and National Guard troops. In November, dozens of migrants rioted in Mexico’s largest detention center in the southern city of Tapachula near the border with Guatemala. No one died in either incident.

Mexico has emerged as the world’s third most popular destination for asylum-seekers, after the United States and Germany, but is still largely a transit country for those on the way to the U.S. It holds tens of thousands of migrants in an expansive network of detention centers and attempts to closely monitor movements across the country in cooperation with American authorities.

Karla Samayoa, spokeswoman for Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry, said that Mexican authorities had informed them that more than two dozen of the migrants who died appeared to be from the country.

Asylum-seekers must stay in the state where they apply in Mexico, resulting in large numbers being holed up near the country’s southern border with Guatemala. Tens of thousands are also in border cities with the U.S., including Ciudad Juarez.

The Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin has estimated there are more than 2,200 people in Ciudad Juarez’s shelters and more migrants outside shelters from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, and El Salvador.

Associated Press writers Sonia Pérez D. in Guatemala City and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register