HS Alliance
TIJUANA (Report to the border) – In recent weeks, around 6,500 Haitian migrants have arrived in the city of Tijuana and northern Baja California, according to the Citizens Defense Committee for Naturalized African Americans.
Haitian migrants have reportedly traveled from Central America and through Mexico to reach the California-Mexico border.
And estimates say 30,000 more are on their way and could arrive in northern Mexican cities such as Tijuana and Mexicali in the coming weeks.
The Baja California State Secretary of Health and other government agencies are urged to help migrants, especially those who arrive in poor health.
José María García Lara, director of the Alliance of Migrants of Tijuana, explains that Haitian families continue to arrive every day.
“We get hundreds of them every week, mainly those who have started their journey in Chile and they come here with very little paperwork, there is not much we can do for them,” García Lara said.
In order to help Haitians who find themselves in limbo in the city of Tijuana, a group from Southern California called Haitian du Pont Alliance, organized an event south of the border to distribute food, clothes, shoes and advice to migrants.
“The Haitian community suffers a lot from racism, it needs shelter and humanitarian support,” said Guerline Jozef, one of the organizers of the Haitian bridge. “We want to let them know that we are there for them, we also see them to let them know their rights as migrants in the United States and how we are going to support them here in Tijuana, Mexico.”
Jozef and other volunteers handed out cans, hats and shirts to migrants like Jacksoli, who arrived in Tijuana last week.
“We can’t find accommodation, we don’t sleep well, we have nothing to eat, we have to sleep on the streets,” he said.
Others have had similar stories of their struggles to survive in Tijuana.
“We are suffering because we don’t have homes, they won’t give us jobs let alone we all know we are not wanted in the United States,” said a man named Evans.
The city of Tijuana has said it is trying to help Haitian migrants, but there is little it can do as the city is inundated with migrants from all over the world.
And now, all the shelters in the region are saturated with migrants and have no room for anyone else.