Mexico City, Sept 25 (EFE) – A new migratory wave reached Mexico City, where hundreds of foreigners have settled in shelters and camps on the streets while waiting for a chance to cross into the United States.
In Plaza Giordano Bruno, in the central neighborhood of Juárez, migrant families sleep and wait for an appointment with Mexican authorities to regularize their immigration status.
The travelers, mainly from Haiti and Central America, hang their clothes on fences and cook on charcoal grills.
Some have already spread tarps and used wood pieces to create a camp between Roma and Milan streets, where at least 100 people pass by and eat.
Among them is Claudeau, a Haitian who arrived in the Mexican capital two weeks ago with the last wave of migrants.
However, he began his pilgrimage more than two and a half months ago, accompanied by his wife and two children under three.
Claudeau told EFE that he has yet to receive help from any authority. Still, they have found a place to sleep, although he mentioned that they can only stay for a certain amount of time, and then they are out on the streets without food or water.
Claudeau regretted that they have to wait a long time for appointments since the Mexican Commission for Refugees (Comar) will not receive him until a month from now, on October 24.
But the expenses keep coming, and they even have to pay to go to the bathroom.
“It is very difficult, but we have no other way (…) we are looking for a door that is more open for the children,” he says, referring to the prospect of a future in the United States.
A new migration wave
Mexico is experiencing a new wave of migration, as evidenced last week by the suspension of 60 Ferromex freight trains due to more than 4,000 migrants in the cars and on the tracks.
At the southern border, there have also been demonstrations and stampedes of thousands of migrants at the offices that take care of refugees at the southern border.
Although the situation is usually limited to the border towns, there are stranded migrants in Mexico City like Paul, who is also from Haiti and whose appointment with Comar is on October 24.
Like Claudeau, he will be waiting in the streets to get permission to enter the country or an appointment through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection application, CBP One.
Accompanied by a family of six, they are preparing fish. At the same time, he points out that the waiting time is getting longer and longer in both countries.
Mexico’s Immigration Drama
Another family is that of Percida Romero, who is traveling with seven adults and four minors from Honduras.
Romero considers it “unfortunate” that there is no help anywhere and that they are denied access to transportation to travel through Mexico.
She mentioned they have paid up to 1,000 pesos per person (almost $57.5) for bus tickets. On one occasion, they were detained by immigration authorities just for traveling.
“The truth is that these roads are tough, but overall, the migra (immigration authorities) are the ones who make us suffer,” she added.
She said they eat only one meal daily while caring for a sick girl who went to the emergency room at a hospital in the capital.
“We are staying at the Cuauhtémoc migrant house; they give us food, and that’s how we are here. We don’t want to take any more risks because the laws are clear; we are waiting for our appointment, and that’s the mission,” she said.
She pointed out that they have witnessed close cases that have received assistance and others of violence, such as robbery and abuse of authority.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), insecurity, violence, and socio-economic conditions are the main factors that cause thousands of migrants to leave their countries and try to reach the United States through Mexico.
It has also been pointed out that the diversity of nationalities of migrants crossing the country is increasing because more people are leaving their homeland after the COVID-19 pandemic, causing waves of migration in the region. EFE
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