SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Since Haitian migrants began arriving in Tijuana in 2016, they and their advocates have reported many incidents of discrimination and racism.
Many Haitians have chosen to settle in that Mexican border city instead of trying to cross into the U.S., and they say that eight years later, the hate continues and there are more instances of racial profiling by police and Mexico’s National Guard.
“We are worried about the growing incidents of violence and abuse by people in power,” said Sara Soto, director of Espacio Migrante, a shelter in Tijuana. “Police, the National Guard, army and personnel from the National Institute of Migration continue to abuse migrants, especially those from Haiti.”
Soto made these comments on Wednesday during a news conference attended by several migrant advocates from the region.
“Many migrants are brutally abused by police and detained arbitrarily,” said Sto, who added that just last week, an older migrant was removed by force from outside the shelter and suffered severe brain and skull injuries.
Other shelter operators complained of similar events happening recently.
“On February 14, I had to help several migrants pick up their belongings after police officers discarded their stuff calling it ‘social cleanliness’ and saying it was necessary to remove all trash from the sidewalk, but it wasn’t trash, it was everything they owned,” said Psyche Calderón Vargas, co-director of a health center for refugees.
Vivianne Petit-frère of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, said conditions are even worse for migrants of color, and she says it’s happening not only to recent arrivals from Haiti, but people who live and work in Tijuana legally.
The advocates are calling on police agencies, the military and others that patrol the streets to change their tactics and take sensitivity courses to learn how to deal and treat migrants and the homeless.
They’re also calling on immigration officials to hire more translators who speak Creole to better communicate with the Haitian community, and they’re urging state and federal governments to investigate and follow up on all claims and complaints of abuse.
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