Precautionary measures urged for Tijuana and Mexicali shelters

Due to the rise in the migration flow of people coming from Africa and Haiti, the Mexican Human Rights Commission urged the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social Development to further the precautionary measures within their scopes in the already oversaturated Tijuana and Mexicali shelters.

The Mexican ombudsman, Luis Raúl González Pérez, expressed his concern for the illegal immigrants who have to stay in the streets because the existing shelters are already overcrowded and have no quota: “Immigrants find themselves living in street conditions and cannot meet their basic needs, this is particularly worrisome for children, teens, pregnant women and elders waiting for an appointment of the U.S. immigration authorities, who manage to receive an average of 60 people per day, while the number of people arriving to the shelters is between 280 and 300 or more per day”.

He added, that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should “[...] reach and agreement with U.S. authorities so as to expedite the appointments process and to increase the number of asylum applications in order to reduce the stay of asylum seekers in the border and to offer them a more adequate humanitarian assistance”.

As for the Ministry of Social Development, he requested: “[…] coordination with state and municipal authorities concerned, so as to provide the necessary support to the shelters, besides enabling housing places were food, personal hygiene and medical-psychological services be provided, especially for vulnerable groups in due respect of their dignity and human rights”.