¡Ayuda Ahora! Inside the Migrant Caravan in Tijuana
Given the recent and prolonged drought along the West Coast, we might assume the rain now falling in Baja Mexico would be welcomed by many. But in El Barretal, an open-air concert venue that has housed as many as 3,000 asylum seekers from Central America, the intense weather poses many challenges. Many asylum seekers sleep outside in tents and makeshift shelters, some structured from leftover concert posters they pulled down from the walls.
As a community health worker and human rights advocate, I came to Tijuana two months ago to share information, consolidate relief efforts, and encourage action to support asylum seekers. It had been just one week since the world witnessed how approximately 5,000 people arriving near San Ysidro — the busiest border crossing in the world — from Mexico City were met at the border fence with tear gas. Since then, asylum seekers have continued to move between shelters, safe houses, and government-run camps, finding minimal comfort between formal and informal spaces.
Reports from the National Lawyers Guild and other asylum-support organizations indicate that asylum proceedings are slower than usual: less than 100 cases per day are being heard and people are growing restless. While the caravan initially arrived as a collective body, numbers have shifted as families and individuals have trickled through the border to await their asylum hearings.
Anti-caravan sentiments fester along both sides of the border as the Mexican military continues to place pressure and restrict organizations, aid, and volunteer efforts. A handful of shelters throughout Tijuana are equipped to serve people and as they reach their capacity, asylum seekers are camping in public places near the border and along the beach. This reality is prompting local residents to register complaints with the police and spurring the military to further discourage asylum seekers from reaching ports of entry.
Working with a group of volunteers from grassroots organizations in Los Angeles and San Diego, we first started our work at El Barretal, the shelter established after the Benito Juarez shelter had flooded. When we arrived, there was no running water, no consistent meals, and no formal system for distributing donations. The military did not appear to be coordinating with organizations and no major humanitarian aid groups were on the ground. After two weeks of being in this camp, asylum seekers had still not received any form of ID and Mexican nationals were able to come and go freely within the camp. People were in crisis.
Our group brought in tents, tarps, sleeping bags, clothes, drinking water, basic medicine, hygiene kids, toys, books, flashlights, rope, and more. We spent the weekend organizing distributions and committed to bringing back more. Over the next month, we worked with an elected committee from within the caravan to coordinate distribution and assess needs. These caravaners put their time, effort, and safety at risk in order to give their fellow asylum seekers a voice in the process.
Volunteers flood into Barretal on weekends, often accompanied by missionaries, media teams, and even anti-caravan activists who posed as supporters. Over the past several weeks, I have witnessed intense disorganization, a lack of formal humanitarian training, and many vulnerable people left in limbo.
There are no separate clinics for women and children, and sanitary issues are made worse by the rain and lack of washing machines. Many children have had lice, respiratory infections, and showed signs of malnourishment, fever, and exhaustion.
Under these conditions, hundreds of people are trickling away from the government camp and onto the streets, or accepting offers to “self-deport” and take buses — organized by the Mexican government — back to their home countries. Less groups and volunteers have made their way back to Barretal, leaving many caravaners isolated and without resources.
Trust and consistency are hard to find. Many remain optimistic about the possibility of establishing a continuum of care and building networks of organized volunteers who can mobilize resources and people as they arrive. However, rumors that the camp will be disbanded in February instill a strong sense of crisis.
We are continuing our work and hope that institutions and organizations will establish clear pathways and resources for migrants stranded in Tijuana.
Thanh will be continuing a series of on the ground updates as she continues her work in Tijuana. Follow this series on the Human Rights Center Medium.
Photos by Matthew William Richard, a fellow volunteer.
