For the past two weeks, thousands of Haitian refugees have arrived in Mexico City seeking to conclude their asylum process, start a new life or to rest before continuing their route north. Local shelters have reported they are at capacity and are on the verge of collapse; running out of food, beds and medical equipment.
This is the most recent episode in the tragic story that migration in the region has become, starting with the anti-immigrant fascist Trump regime, and sadly continued by the Biden administration.
Haitian migrant families seeking asylum in Mexico and the U.S. are left without support and without knowing what will happen to them. The majority will be deported back to Haiti or to the country where they first entered, others will have to wait indefinitely at an entry point and only a few of them will be allowed into the U.S.
Global Exchange has raised $40,000 to support shelters in Mexico that are supporting Haitian refugees. We hope to match these initial funds.
We identified and interviewed a group of established and respected migrant shelters and legal aid organizations to receive the funds. These trusted frontline organizations will use the funds to buy food, medical supplies, mattresses, pay for bills and continue advocacy efforts.
Casa Tochan (our home, in nahuatl language) is a nonprofit organization run by civil society with the mission of providing shelter, support and services for migrants and refugees in Mexico City. They have been on the frontline of supporting and accompanying families from Haiti in the past weeks who arrived in large numbers to Mexico City seeking refugee status, or looking to get to the U.S. border. They were overwhelmed with requests for support, and ran out of beds, food and medical supplies.
CAFEMIN (acronym for House for Sheltering, Education and Empowerment Migrant and Refugee Women) is a nonprofit organization based in Mexico City led by a group of catholic nuns dedicated to supporting immigrant and refugee women. These past weeks they have been overwhelmed by the amount of women and children from Haiti showing up in Mexico City and need our support.
Voces Mesoamericanas is a nonprofit organization based in San Cristobal de las Casas, leading emergency actions to support Haitians and people migrating from Central America in Chiapas.
Al Otro Lado provides holistic legal and humanitarian support to underserved refugees, deportees, and other migrants in the U.S. and Tijuana through a multidisciplinary, client-centered, harm reduction-based practice.
These and other organizations need much more support to be able to shelter the growing numbers of migrants knocking at their doors. Please donate to our Migrant & Refugee Emergency Fund and help us send support.
Thank you for your support.