SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — About 4,000 migrants who have made their way to Tijuana hoping to cross the border will find themselves in shelters during this holiday season according to the directors of the city’s Migrant Affairs Office.
People like Guadalupe, from the Mexican state of Guerrero, plan on spending Christmas and New Year’s among people they barely know.
“We used to gather with everyone, even those who didn’t have much, but we celebrated in solidarity,” she said. “We’d get together everywhere we could, on people’s patios and even sports courts making sure everyone had something to eat.”
This year is different for Guadalupe and her three daughters ages 2, 7 and 11.
They left their hometown four months ago after a cartel threatened to kill them if they didn’t pay a fee to live in their neighborhood.
They are now staying at the Pro Amore Dei shelter waiting for a CBP One appointment to cross the border and seek asylum in the United States.
“It’s the first time I’m spending Christmas away from home, but here, I’ve made friends who support you when you lose hope waiting for an appointment date,” she said, adding that neither she nor her daughters have not contacted their families in Guerrero since they got to Tijuana out of fear their calls might be traced by organized crime.
“Just to be safe, so they don’t know where we’re at,” she said.
At the shelter, Guadalupe and others pass the time making piñatas for the children, but she says it only makes her miss her mother back home.
“We’re trying to keep the children distracted and happy because they suffer a lot and don’t understand why we have to be here, but even for me, it’s hard to stay positive knowing this will be my first Christmas away from my mother,” she said.
Guadalupe says she and her daughters fled after their home was set on fire and her husband was kidnapped by a cartel.
“They say he is dead, this makes it harder, but we’ve come too far to go back,” she said.
Guadalupe is one of 4,000 migrants now staying at 31 shelters across Tijuana operated by private organizations, churches and the city, according to the Migrant Affairs Office.
Pro Amore Dei is a Catholic shelter supported by private donations, Director Leticia Herrera Hernández said.
“We try to make the children especially happy around this most important holiday so they can enjoy themselves,” she said. “The children are rehearsing for an event that will take place in the days leading up to Christmas at a local theater.”
She stated the children are resilient, but it’s the adults that sometimes need more emotional support.
“Imagine waiting for four months without any hope waiting for an appointment to cross the border, with have to overcome so much, we do it with our faith,” Herrera Hernández said.
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