Little Haiti: A Refuge for Refugees
While visiting Tijuana recently with a group of advocates, I spent an entire morning in Little Haiti. Consisting of a couple dozen ramshackle, half-built homes and trash-filled gullies, Little Haiti is nestled in an arid, desolate area known as Scorpion Canyon, accessible only by a one-lane dirt road. Nevertheless, the Haitian refugees who found their way here have formed a community centered around a church and its pastor.
Thousands of Haitians flocked to Mexico last year from Brazil, many on an arduous, months-long trek on foot. They’d fled to Brazil after an earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010, and found work during the World Cup and Olympics. But after the jobs disappeared, they headed north. Some hoped to immigrate to the U.S. Others were lucky enough to find jobs here.
A couple dozen Haitian men continue to live in the church founded by Pastor Gustavo Banda and his wife. Some work at a nearby maquiladora. Others are stuck in limbo, as they spend their time trying to obtain the paperwork and IDs necessary to apply for work here.