Politics

Migrants leave Tijuana after being unable to cross from Mexico into the US

Tijuana, Mexico, Dec 4 (EFE).- After months of overcrowding, migrants have begun leaving shelters and public spaces in Tijuana on the US-Mexico border due to glitches in the official US citizenship and immigration services system (CBP One).

Paola Jiménez, originally from the Mexican state of Guerrero, told EFE she left her hometown six months ago with three children because of the violence.

For five months, she has been requesting an appointment with CBP One to enter the US through the El Chaparral border crossing, but she has not been successful.

A few days ago, she began searching other parts of the border, and only when she applied to cross at Matamoros, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, she got an appointment.

Another migrant who recurred to alternatives in other borders is Karla Ruíz from Guatemala.

“I came here because of extortion, persecution, and death threats. I waited one month and 23 days in the shelter, looking for an appointment through the CBP One application, but nothing happened until we asked for Matamoros and we got an appointment,” she told EFE.

The high cost of migration

Tijuana is one of the focal points of the “unprecedented” migratory flow from Mexico and Central America, as warned by the International Organization for Migration.

Last month, the IOM warned of an annual increase of more than 60% in irregular migration through Mexican territory by 2022.

Estrella Díaz, also from the state of Guerrero, told EFE that she had been looking for an appointment at the El Chaparral border crossing for four months without success.

Last week she asked for an appointment in Matamoros and got one the next day.

Díaz says she is grateful to finally be scheduled, although she acknowledges that it means “spending more.”

“But our relatives, who are there to vouch for us, are the ones who are making the effort to cover the expenses and to get us to move,” she said.

Appointments restore migrant’s hope

For the migrant women and mothers interviewed, who were in the Ágape Misión Mundial shelter, located in one of the most conflict-ridden areas of Tijuana, it was difficult to wait for so long. However, the opportunity of getting an appointment gave them hope.

“Waiting here for so long without having an answer has also been desperate. The only thing that we can do is to pray to God that it will go well and that they will give us the attention that we need to cross to the other side,” said Paola Jiménez.

Karla Ruíz agreed that “it is complicated,” as moving to another city “is a radical change, you have to begin all over again.”

“But always with the hope that asylum will come soon. And of course, it renews my hope to get there, the US, after such a long time. Now that I have an appointment, I feel more secure,” she said. EFE

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