Tijuana (Mexico) (AFP) – Hundreds of migrants from Haiti and Africa have streamed in recent days into the Mexican border city of Tijuana, hoping to apply for political asylum in the neighboring United States.
Since last Saturday, the San Ysidro border crossing separating Tijuana from San Diego, California has seen a continuous stream of men, women and children from the distant shores of Guinea, Angola and Haiti. They have spent days and nights waiting to see US immigration authorities.
“I’m surprised by the number of foreigners. They don’t usually arrive in such large numbers, and they usually come to other border crossings like Laredo,” US Consul General William Ostick told AFP.
Usually, migrants trying to reach the United States from Mexico come from Central America.
“I left alone, then I met some friends and other people,” said Jonas Despinasse, a 39-year-old Haitian who has plied various trades in his life.
“The political problems since 2004 have made the economic situation worsen, and things have gotten even worse after the 2010 earthquake,” said the academic, who has been waiting since Wednesday to see a US immigration agent.
His journey through Central America lasted three months and cost him all his savings.
He said he entered Mexico through Chiapas, where he obtained a temporary 30-day authorization to stay.
Another migrant in the queue was a 25-year-old man from Guinea Bissau who declined to give his name for fear the authorities would refuse to grant him political asylum.
He said that in Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru, he was the victim of corrupt police who demanded money.
“Now I always hide my travel money, or ask people I trust to deposit money in each country I visit,” he said in a broken Spanish, after arriving in Tijuana from Brazil, a journey he says cost him $3,000.
“In my country there are no employment opportunities. There’s no work due to the political divisions” and regional conflicts, said the former textile merchant.
Ostick cautioned that each case is reviewed carefully and individually to determine whether to grant asylum to a refugee.
“Everyone must present their case, and the requirements for asylum are very specific. They need to provide reliable or verifiable information that they fear of persecution,” he explained.
The overwhelmed immigration offices at San Ysidro temporarily stopped issuing permits and other paperwork to Mexican travelers living in the border area.
Mexico’s 3,200-kilometer-long (2,000-mile-long) border with the United States is one of the busiest international boundaries in the world.
Every year, thousands of migrants pass through the long border legally and illegally, making it a hot-button issue, especially in America’s presidential politics.
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