Page 12 - aruba-today-20181124

A12 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 24 November 2018

In Mexico's border city, Haitians hailed as success story

By JULIE WATSON They opened beauty par-
Associated Press lors, shops and restaurants,
TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — like Kriskapab Baborijinal, a
A few blocks from a shel- bright blue-and-red cafe
ter housing members of a that is busy serving Mexi-
Central American migrant cans and Haitians daily
caravan sits the first Hai- dishes of coconut rice,
tian restaurant to open in mashed plantains and
Tijuana, a bustling eatery goat stew.
that has come to symbolize In the window is a sign for
an immigrant success story the Association of the De-
in this Mexican border city fense of Haitian Migrants.
where Haitians are now a Philocles Julda, 44, is one of
part of the fabric, landing 11 Haitian immigrants who
jobs, studying and marrying started the group a year
locals. ago to give the community
Tijuana welcomed thou- a place to help itself with
sands of Haitians to pursue everything from Spanish
a scaled-down American lessons to paying medical
dream south of the bor- bills.
der after the U.S. closed its Julda said he too wanted
doors on them more than to get to the U.S. when he
two years ago. But it has not first arrived to Tijuana and
shown the same tolerance still wishes he was earn-
so far toward the Central ing dollars, but said he has
Americans, who have met been able to make a life
official complaints and here. He works at a factory.
anti-caravan protests even "I feel for the migrants who
though most of the people are arriving from other
in this city are migrants or Philocles Julda, 44, poses for a photo in front of a Haitian barbershop in Tijuana, Mexico, countries just like we did,"
the offspring of migrants. Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018. he said. "But you do adapt."
That's raising questions Associated Press And work is plentiful in Tijua-
about how the newest na, whose economy has
group will integrate if it studies at San Diego State San Diego, and there was of Haitians moved out of been growing and whose
doesn't don't get into the University who lives in Tijua- already a waiting list of the Padre Chava shelter in factories have thousands
U.S. or return home. na, attributes the backlash 3,000 when the new mi- April. of openings.
Tijuana Mayor Juan Man- to the way the caravan ar- grants arrived, so most will Brazil and its neighbors took "We have been looking for
uel Gastelum has made a rived — suddenly with thou- have to wait months to in the Haitians after that workers for quite a while,"
point of saying the city is sands pouring in. Others even be considered for country's 2010 earthquake. said Alejandrina Yanez,
not happy with the cara- point to social media and asylum. As construction jobs for the who works in human re-
van migrants who began the hostile rhetoric of U.S. Tijuana has a long history as 2016 Summer Olympics sources at a factory that
arriving last week, and he President Donald Trump, a kind of Ellis Island for U.S.- ended and Brazil's econo- makes warehouse storage
compared the Central who said it harbored crimi- bound migrants. It receives my slumped, they crossed racks for Costco, Home De-
American group unfavor- nals and gang members up to 80,000 a year from 10 countries by plane, pot and other international
ably with the roughly 3,000 and was planning an "inva- across Mexico, Latin Amer- boat, bus and on foot to companies.
Haitians who ended up sion." ica and more recently as San Diego, where U.S. au- Yanez went to the Padre
staying after their bid to Many also say the actions far away as India and Afri- thorities initially let them in Chava shelter Wednesday
reach the U.S. failed. of a few are tarnishing the ca. The city has large pock- on humanitarian grounds. to see if any migrants were
"The Haitians arrived with image of the roughly 4,000 ets of Chinese and Korean Then President Barack interested in jobs that pay
their papers, with a clear migrants who are camped immigrants. Obama shifted course in about $100 a week.
vision," Gastelum said in in Tijuana. In the past week, Central Americans have 2016 and started deport- Omin Velasquez, 26, of
an interview posted on city officials have arrest- been coming to the city ing Haitian arrivals. Many Tocoa, Honduras, was in-
the city's Facebook page. ed three dozen caravan since the civil wars of the decided to stay in Mexico trigued. Velasquez came
They came "in an orderly members for drug posses- 80s in El Salvador, Nicara- after the government gave with the caravan but de-
way, they never asked us sion, public intoxication, gua and Guatemala. them temporary transit per- cided not to continue on
for food or shelter," rent- disturbing the peace and Many in the newly arrived mits and have since ap- to the U.S. after seeing the
ing apartments and mak- resisting police, and said caravan, however, are plied for Mexican residen- border wall topped with
ing their own food. He said they would be deported to destitute people who left cy. The majority in the Cen- newly-installed rows of ra-
the Haitians found jobs and their home countries. their homelands at the spur tral American caravan so zor wire. He said it took him
"inserted themselves in the It's also only been months of the moment and have far have refused Mexico's some days to decide, but
city's economy" and had since an earlier caravan of been utterly dependent on repeated offers of residen- he now feels that there are
not been involved in any Central Americans arrived, handouts along their jour- cy or asylum and vowed to enough opportunities in Ti-
disturbances. and some of them are still ney. Many of the Haitians, cross the border. juana and support from lo-
By contrast, Gastelum said, in the city waiting to get meanwhile, arrived with at Many of the Haitians also cals that it's not worth the
the caravan of Central asylum in the U.S. That has least some resources after have college degrees and risk of crossing into the U.S.
Americans "had arrived added to fears here that it working in Brazil, though de- have been recruited to He has started his paper-
all of sudden, with a lot of could be the start of a nev- spite what the mayor said, work for factories that ex- work to get a Mexican visa
people — not all ... but a er-ending deluge. they also stayed at shelters port to the U.S. Some can to stay.
lot — were aggressive and U.S. border inspectors are after taking an accidental be found waiting tables "There is so much work
cocky." processing only about 100 route to Tijuana from their and worshipping at con- here," he said. "I no longer
Victor Clark-Alfaro, a pro- asylum claims a day at Ti- impoverished Caribbean gregations that have even feel the need to go to the
fessor of Latin American juana's main crossing to homeland. The last group added services in Creole. U.S."q