If you have been following the links since the last blog you might have thought - like me - that there seemed to be some positive changes since a large measure (over 2,000)of the migrantes were moved to El Barretal. Even though it isn't the Ritz, at least the migrantes were out of the freezing inclement weather. One civilian volunteer group, World Central Kitchen has set up kitchens and have been working around the clock preparing decent food for them, the Marinos were back in action with their food stations, some migrantes have set up kitchens themselves and some of these said they wanted to stay in TIJ and open up diners, the city was providing Nurses and Doctors to treat the rash of illnesses which had broken out, showers and latrines have been provided offering more privacy, AMLO has offered them jobs here in Tijuana and other parts of Mexico, stations were created to at least start their paperwork process by the Mexican government, Padre Solalinde was in town and still is working the crowds (and trying to persuade those still camped out by the baseball field and the PRI building to move over to Barretal and encouraging local authorities to be honest with the migrantes, and hundreds of Tijuana and US citizens have been showing up with much needed supplies.
Still, what we are hearing is that many hundreds of the migrantes refuse to go to Barretal which is not good news because health rules prohibit them from camping out on the streets and they have to move, the US is moving too slow on the asylum requests, some people are wondering what happened to the reported 3,000 migrantes reported unaccounted for (or if in fact there really are that many unaccounted for), the food lines are long and everyone is wondering will any of them receive asylum - if so, will they be held or are we back to catch and release?
The Marches:
December 10, 2018
- From Zeta: see report for pics.
Lideres Religiosos Protestan En La Frontera Contra El Gobierno de EU Por No Recibir Solicitudes de Asilo a Migrantes
Por, Manuel Ayala
Pasted:
"Hundreds of pro-immigrant activists and religious leaders demonstrated this afternoon at the border between San Diego and Tijuana, to set his displeasure towards the migratory policies of the United States that at the moment has been denying the requests of asylum of the Central American migrants that from the past 11 November arrived at this city.
On the US side, the religious leaders conducted a peaceful walk of "civil disobedience", as well as discontent with the treatment they have given to the migrants themselves and the ways in which they were received with gas bombs and rubber bullets, in addition to the null speed to attend their cases.
The walk arrived to the wall adjacent to Playas de Tijuana, where a barricade of elements of the US Border Patrol stopped them, so they would not get close to the border, where on the Mexican side they were also expected by religious leaders and activists who work in Tijuana.
In their attempt to get close to the wall, several of the activists on the US side were stopped by the Border Patrol, who were loaded into trucks and taken with authority.
Father Patricio Murphy, director of the Casa del Migrante in Tijuana, said that more than 400 religious leaders participated in this demonstration to show solidarity with migrants on this side.
A demonstration on the occasion of Human Rights Day to carry out a moment of prayer for all the members of the migrant caravan.
"It is also a way to push the government, to awaken it with these images so that it looks for other solutions so that people can enter faster because 40 or 50 per day is nothing and the people who are here are going to last for months in a hostel that is not very worthy for children and women, "he said.
For her part, Mary Galván, social worker of the Madre Asunta Institute, said that as associations in Tijuana their participation was in solidarity with these leaders because part of their work is also to sensitize a part of the American community that "does not want to understand yet" the migrant situation.
"(They come) to tell the United States that what they are doing is wrong, that a lot of the people who are on the move and trying to reach the neighboring country, are because they have a great need to seek a better living condition."
Finally he said that this was only a sample between groups on both sides of the border that "we are not alone", because on both sides "there are still good people who believe in God's love" and so they will always be manifesting.
~~~~~~
December 11, 2018:
From Zeta:
Marchan Grupos Migrantes Para Pedir al Gobierno de EU Mayor Celeridad En Recepcion de Solicitudes de Asilo
Por, Manuel Ayala
Pasted:
"In two different marches carried out this morning and afternoon in Tijuana, groups of migrants and activists requested the United States Consulate in the city, to speed up the reception of asylum applications from Central American migrants.
Considering that the great majority are families with children and women, the first group of approximately 150 Honduran migrants left the shelter of El Barretal in the morning, in the direction of the US consulate, where they delivered a request list with three highlights:
1.- Free entry to all members of the Central American exodus.
2.- That the United States take away the 12 military bases they have in Honduras and that is what causes so much violence in the country.
3 .- That if they do not want to let them in, they compensate them with a payment of 50 thousand dollars to each one of the migrants, so that they can return to their countries.
This group of migrants put the Consulate within 72 hours to receive a response, which, according to spokesperson Alfonso Guerrero Ulloa, is expected to be "positive" mainly with the granting of asylum; After presenting the document, the group of migrants returned to the shelter.
Xóchitl Castillo, originally from Nicaragua, shared that the sub-delegate of that institution, Manuel Marín, provided them with figures that to date had more than 700 voluntary returns, 300 returns assisted or deported because they were made available by some authority.
In addition, 25 asylum seekers are detained in the immigration station in Tijuana, by those who requested their immediate release and those who let them know that a mechanism is established not to deport people who are waiting to seek asylum in the neighboring country.
Subsequently, the contingent also traveled to the US Consulate in Tijuana, where they entered to present also a request list in which the only precision is to speed up asylum applications and that of 50 they are receiving daily , receive at least 300 a day in the San Ysidro sentry boxes.
Alex Martinez, a Honduran migrant, reported that this march was mainly due to a way to close the hunger strike that they held near El Chaparral facilities for 14 days.
The Hunger Strike with which they also asked for the asylum process to be expedited and for the Federal Police not to collaborate with the INM in order to stop and subsequently deport the migrants."
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From Zeta:An Interesting Perspective
Por, Manuel Ayala
Pasted:
"The rejection of the United States, the aggressions of a sector of the Tijuana society, the uncertainty, the bad conditions of the shelters, deficient distribution of provisions and even the inclemency of the climate, are some of the factors that have caused the migrant caravan to have lost strength as a group and now is segregating. Activists and researchers agree that much of it is because the authorities do not want to have them in Tijuana.
The rejection of a sector of the Tijuana society, the bad conditions of the first shelter, the distance from the second, the recurrent criminalization and sectorization of the municipal authorities and the State, have generated a dispersion of the migrant caravan throughout the city.
"It has lost its essence, it has been taken away," said the migrant named Milson Martínez.
Some are separating themselves from the rest to stay close to the sentry boxes, others have looked for places to rent or work with their families, some more are waiting to ask for asylum in the neighboring country, others are jumping the wall and the least have asked to be returned to their places of origin.
"We are not staying other than to look on our own, the strength of the caravan is over. We must think of ourselves, of those who have children, to know well what we are going to decide now, because we already see that it will not be possible in a group and that the authorities in Tijuana do not like us very much, "shared the young Honduran.
To all this, the rainy season has started in Tijuana with its freezing temperatures, climatic conditions that still have not become accustomed and that have aggravated the health of many migrants.
The donations that are coming from civil society are retained at the entrance of El Barretal, where there are only 2,122 members of the more than 6,700 that had been counted by the Municipality in the Sports Unit "Benito Juárez". And they are not distributed in the best way.
The remoteness of workplaces or the El Chaparral Garita, where they have to be constantly going to know their turn to apply for asylum to the US government, are factors that some activists have considered strategic to contribute to the dissolution of the caravan and the persuasion that they desist from their path to the American Union.
"They do not want them in Tijuana either," said Soraya Vázquez, coordinator of the Strategic Committee for Humanitarian Aid (CEAH), who considers the attitude of the authority to be "perverse, in the sense of generating the worst conditions (for migrants) just to achieve that the majority left the city, regardless of the risks to their safety and physical integrity, what to say about violations of due process, as well as each and every one of their human rights. "
MISSING IN THE CARAVAN
The overcrowding in the shelter of the "Benito Juárez" Sports Unit, in the Northern Zone, and the unhealthy conditions generated by the rain that fell on Thursday, November 29 in the city, exceeded the attention capacities of the municipal and state authorities, propitiating a lack of control and chaos in the organization of the caravan itself.
"It has lost its essence, it has been taken away," said the migrant named Milson Martínez.
Some are separating themselves from the rest to stay close to the sentry boxes, others have looked for places to rent or work with their families, some more are waiting to ask for asylum in the neighboring country, others are jumping the wall and the least have asked to be returned to their places of origin.
To all this, the rainy season has started in Tijuana with its freezing temperatures, climatic conditions that still have not become accustomed and that have aggravated the health of many migrants.
The donations that are coming from civil society are retained at the entrance of El Barretal, where there are only 2,122 members of the more than 6,700 that had been counted by the Municipality in the Sports Unit "Benito Juárez". And they are not distributed in the best way.
The remoteness of workplaces or the El Chaparral Garita, where they have to be constantly going to know their turn to apply for asylum to the US government, are factors that some activists have considered strategic to contribute to the dissolution of the caravan and the persuasion that they desist from their path to the American Union.
"They do not want them in Tijuana either," said Soraya Vázquez, coordinator of the Strategic Committee for Humanitarian Aid (CEAH), who considers the attitude of the authority to be "perverse, in the sense of generating the worst conditions (for migrants) just to achieve that the majority left the city, regardless of the risks to their safety and physical integrity, what to say about violations of due process, as well as each and every one of their human rights. "
MISSING IN THE CARAVAN
The overcrowding in the shelter of the "Benito Juárez" Sports Unit, in the Northern Zone, and the unhealthy conditions generated by the rain that fell on Thursday, November 29 in the city, exceeded the attention capacities of the municipal and state authorities, propitiating a lack of control and chaos in the organization of the caravan itself.
In a hasty manner and without any protocol, between the afternoon and night of that day the authorities began to move the migrants to a new space in El Barretal, a former entertainment center of the Mariano Matamoros neighborhood in the Eastern Zone, which did not have electricity or sanitation services.
The sudden displacement generated uncertainty and fear among the members of the caravan, who spread the rumor that they would be moved out of the city, or to the immigration offices to be deported immediately.
This caused fear among the migrants, some of whom refused to move. The sports unit was completely closed on Saturday, December 1 and an approximate of 700 occupants decided to camp on the street where the one that was their shelter was located.
On Sunday, December 2, the municipal authorities only accounted for 2,122 migrants in El Barretal, out of the more than 6,700 migrants who had joined before the transfer.
Mario Osuna Giménez, secretary of Municipal Social Development, said that the whereabouts of around 3,000 migrants are unknown.
Additionally, in his weekly report, on December 3, the Secretary of Municipal Public Security of Tijuana, Marco Antonio Sotomayor, referred to another 144 migrants located in different shelters of civil society, and the shortage of 3 thousand Central Americans.
Both officials agreed that they ended up leaving on their own to ask for assisted returns, to go and take shelter with a family member, seek asylum in the United States, those who have been jumping over the wall to surrender to the US authorities , or those who simply decided to stay in the city or any other part of the region.
"We know that suddenly some ventured to throw themselves on the wall, others maybe they went back, but I do not think so many have done it, that's why it generates uncertainty, because it may be that.
The sudden displacement generated uncertainty and fear among the members of the caravan, who spread the rumor that they would be moved out of the city, or to the immigration offices to be deported immediately.
This caused fear among the migrants, some of whom refused to move. The sports unit was completely closed on Saturday, December 1 and an approximate of 700 occupants decided to camp on the street where the one that was their shelter was located.
On Sunday, December 2, the municipal authorities only accounted for 2,122 migrants in El Barretal, out of the more than 6,700 migrants who had joined before the transfer.
Mario Osuna Giménez, secretary of Municipal Social Development, said that the whereabouts of around 3,000 migrants are unknown.
Additionally, in his weekly report, on December 3, the Secretary of Municipal Public Security of Tijuana, Marco Antonio Sotomayor, referred to another 144 migrants located in different shelters of civil society, and the shortage of 3 thousand Central Americans.
Both officials agreed that they ended up leaving on their own to ask for assisted returns, to go and take shelter with a family member, seek asylum in the United States, those who have been jumping over the wall to surrender to the US authorities , or those who simply decided to stay in the city or any other part of the region.
"We know that suddenly some ventured to throw themselves on the wall, others maybe they went back, but I do not think so many have done it, that's why it generates uncertainty, because it may be that.
Housewives and peasants, most of the members of the migrant caravan
A diagnosis made by researchers from El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (El Colef) showed that the vast majority of the people who make up the migrant caravan said they dedicate themselves to agriculture and livestock in the case of men; and in that of women, at home or as domestic workers.
Another of the results that were shared on Tuesday, December 4, at the facilities of this institution, was that most of the respondents have on average between 18 and 29 years of age, and have only completed the primary level, although some of them have with doctorates.
On their expectations, the survey that was conducted while the migrants were in the "Benito Juárez" Sports Unit, showed that the vast majority wanted to cross to the United States by any means, others to request asylum through legal channels and a small part to stay in Tijuana.
81 percent comes from Honduras, 9% from El Salvador and 8% from Guatemala; the vast majority comes with one or up to four relatives, mainly women with children, and another large percentage are men who come alone.
Another of the results that were shared on Tuesday, December 4, at the facilities of this institution, was that most of the respondents have on average between 18 and 29 years of age, and have only completed the primary level, although some of them have with doctorates.
On their expectations, the survey that was conducted while the migrants were in the "Benito Juárez" Sports Unit, showed that the vast majority wanted to cross to the United States by any means, others to request asylum through legal channels and a small part to stay in Tijuana.
81 percent comes from Honduras, 9% from El Salvador and 8% from Guatemala; the vast majority comes with one or up to four relatives, mainly women with children, and another large percentage are men who come alone.
WAYS TO DISPERSE THE CARAVAN; THEY WILL SEARCH FOR CROSSING BY DESERT AND MOUNTAINS
Activists and specialists consulted by ZETA , agree that moving and moving migrants away from the city center, from the sentry boxes and the crossing area to the United States, was a way to contribute to the dispersion of the caravan itself, to reduce its force through uncertainty and fear of what might happen.
The fact that there are also 3,000 unlocated migrants is attributed to a form of speculation among the members of the caravan, so they can take immediate measures such as voluntarily surrendering or leaving the country.
Soraya Vázquez, of the Strategic Committee, believes that to square the numbers that had been mentioned, "the key" is to know the real and objective figure of the total number of people who were housed in the "Benito Juárez" Sports Unit, which has not been done public authority, hence "the suspicion that the figures were inflated for the City to victimize even more, and to obtain more resources."
Option that other activists who reserved their name seconded, who argued that from the beginning it was impossible that in a space such as the sports unit could concentrate more than 6 thousand people, and even less "credible", that now be almost 3 thousand that are "disappeared", since there is something that "does not fit.
Guillermo Alonso, researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (El Colef), specialized in clandestine border crossing, said in an interview that, considering that this is a population that does not have money to pay for " polleros ", it is more likely that that flow that is not localized are young "able to cross the walls and walk the hills".
"They were not going to stay in El Barretal with their arms crossed, waiting for their turn to come; they will not be where the authorities want either, they did not walk more than 4 thousand kilometers to be asking for asylum, when every day the only signal they give is that they will be given if they do it for good (...) Most are scattered, hidden, planning how to cross to the other side ".
Activists and specialists consulted by ZETA , agree that moving and moving migrants away from the city center, from the sentry boxes and the crossing area to the United States, was a way to contribute to the dispersion of the caravan itself, to reduce its force through uncertainty and fear of what might happen.
Soraya Vázquez, of the Strategic Committee, believes that to square the numbers that had been mentioned, "the key" is to know the real and objective figure of the total number of people who were housed in the "Benito Juárez" Sports Unit, which has not been done public authority, hence "the suspicion that the figures were inflated for the City to victimize even more, and to obtain more resources."
Option that other activists who reserved their name seconded, who argued that from the beginning it was impossible that in a space such as the sports unit could concentrate more than 6 thousand people, and even less "credible", that now be almost 3 thousand that are "disappeared", since there is something that "does not fit.
Guillermo Alonso, researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (El Colef), specialized in clandestine border crossing, said in an interview that, considering that this is a population that does not have money to pay for " polleros ", it is more likely that that flow that is not localized are young "able to cross the walls and walk the hills".
Caravan figures
* More than 5,000 migrants who arrived before the caravan and those who are now on the waiting list to apply for political asylum in the United States
* More than 600 have been repatriated voluntarily to their countries of origin
* Around 2 thousand 500 have been linked labor to companies of various sectors of the State
* More than 300 have been delivered to US immigration authorities, jumping the wall
* More than 5,000 migrants who arrived before the caravan and those who are now on the waiting list to apply for political asylum in the United States
* More than 600 have been repatriated voluntarily to their countries of origin
* Around 2 thousand 500 have been linked labor to companies of various sectors of the State
* More than 300 have been delivered to US immigration authorities, jumping the wall
"We do not want to stay in Mexico, we fear for our lives"
Yanired Hernández, originally from Sonsonate, El Salvador, is the migrant woman who, at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon of November 30, was run down along with her cousin Nelson Armando -who died at the time- one block from El Barretal , where it is currently housed.
She is one of the people who is already "terrified" by all the situations that "unfortunately" she has had to live throughout her journey in Mexico and wants to leave as soon as possible the country in which, also highlights, she has touched " too many good people "that has also helped him along the way.
Together with her husband Carlos Hernández, her cousin and two friends, they left their country of their own free will and after joining the caravan in Huixtla, Chiapas, from there they began their group journey "without any problem", a path in which they recognize Many Mexicans helped them with food, drink and clothes.
They arrived at the shelter installed in the "Benito Juárez" Sports Unit, from where they had to leave almost fleeing the day the rain fell, as they lost everything due to weather conditions and left for El Barretal, where their "odyssey" began.
Arriving at the site they found out that one of the friends who were accompanying them, named Lázaro Daniel, was one of the migrants who died in the repair work of a rainwater network in Antonio Nava street in Acatlán of the Mariano Matamoros Norte neighborhood, Wednesday, November 28.
He explained that he had already found work in the contractor company Pacific Specialized Constructions, who were in charge of carrying out the work, and his desire was to stay in Tijuana to make his life here.
On several occasions, the leaders of the caravan were informing them that there were threats that armed groups would "shoot" those who remained in the Northern Zone, so they chose to stay in El Barretal.
But on Friday, November 30, when they returned from having gone to eat near the shelter, a drunken person who was on board their van ran over them, she was caught by her husband's jacket and only received a blow to the hip. who sent her against the wall, resulting in a wound on her head.
However, his cousin died instantly, which caused him "a very great pain" that has caused him "fear and terror" to continue in the city, he does not even want to stay in Mexico and is waiting for his turn to request the asylum, the one who waits for him to be granted because they left their country after the death threats and an attempt of homicide on the part of the Mara Salvatrucha towards her husband.
On his medical expenses, a private doctor from the Mariano Matamoros colony daily attends to follow up, Grupo Beta provided the first medications and a US association has been providing him with the other medications he requires.
On the body of his cousin, the Consulate of El Salvador, in coordination with his relatives, are taking charge of the transfer, which will take place in coming days to his homeland.
"My dream was to get to the United States to get my two children forward, we wanted to improve ourselves as people, work and make you want, at some point we thought about staying in Tijuana, I had plans to stay here, I had job offers and I had asked the humanitarian visa. We were happy that we were going to work together, but with this that happened to me, I definitely do not stay here; I fear for my life, I am afraid, "concluded the lady."
Yanired Hernández, originally from Sonsonate, El Salvador, is the migrant woman who, at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon of November 30, was run down along with her cousin Nelson Armando -who died at the time- one block from El Barretal , where it is currently housed.
She is one of the people who is already "terrified" by all the situations that "unfortunately" she has had to live throughout her journey in Mexico and wants to leave as soon as possible the country in which, also highlights, she has touched " too many good people "that has also helped him along the way.
Together with her husband Carlos Hernández, her cousin and two friends, they left their country of their own free will and after joining the caravan in Huixtla, Chiapas, from there they began their group journey "without any problem", a path in which they recognize Many Mexicans helped them with food, drink and clothes.
They arrived at the shelter installed in the "Benito Juárez" Sports Unit, from where they had to leave almost fleeing the day the rain fell, as they lost everything due to weather conditions and left for El Barretal, where their "odyssey" began.
Arriving at the site they found out that one of the friends who were accompanying them, named Lázaro Daniel, was one of the migrants who died in the repair work of a rainwater network in Antonio Nava street in Acatlán of the Mariano Matamoros Norte neighborhood, Wednesday, November 28.
He explained that he had already found work in the contractor company Pacific Specialized Constructions, who were in charge of carrying out the work, and his desire was to stay in Tijuana to make his life here.
On several occasions, the leaders of the caravan were informing them that there were threats that armed groups would "shoot" those who remained in the Northern Zone, so they chose to stay in El Barretal.
But on Friday, November 30, when they returned from having gone to eat near the shelter, a drunken person who was on board their van ran over them, she was caught by her husband's jacket and only received a blow to the hip. who sent her against the wall, resulting in a wound on her head.
However, his cousin died instantly, which caused him "a very great pain" that has caused him "fear and terror" to continue in the city, he does not even want to stay in Mexico and is waiting for his turn to request the asylum, the one who waits for him to be granted because they left their country after the death threats and an attempt of homicide on the part of the Mara Salvatrucha towards her husband.
On his medical expenses, a private doctor from the Mariano Matamoros colony daily attends to follow up, Grupo Beta provided the first medications and a US association has been providing him with the other medications he requires.
On the body of his cousin, the Consulate of El Salvador, in coordination with his relatives, are taking charge of the transfer, which will take place in coming days to his homeland.
"My dream was to get to the United States to get my two children forward, we wanted to improve ourselves as people, work and make you want, at some point we thought about staying in Tijuana, I had plans to stay here, I had job offers and I had asked the humanitarian visa. We were happy that we were going to work together, but with this that happened to me, I definitely do not stay here; I fear for my life, I am afraid, "concluded the lady."