Migrants on the move again in Mexico and Central America
Flow could return to the levels seen in late 2018, early 2019
TENOSIQUE, Mexico — In the first Mexican shelter reached by migrants after trekking through the Guatemalan jungle, some 150 people are sleeping in dormitories and another 150 on thin mattresses on the chapel f loor.
Only six weeks into the year, the shelter has hosted nearly 1,500 migrants, compared to 3,000 all of last year. It has halved its dormitory space due to the pandemic, which wasn’t a problem last year because few migrants arrived, but this year it’s been overwhelmed.
“We have a tremendous flow and there isn’t capacity,” said Gabriel Romero, the priest who runs the shelter in Tenosique in southern Tabasco state. “We need a dialogue with all the authorities before this becomes chaos.” In particular, he would like the government to assist with migrants who camp outside while they are full.
Migrants from the Caribbean, South America and Central America are on the move again. After a year of pandemic-induced paralysis, those in daily contact with migrants believe the flow north could return to the levels seen in late 2018 and early 2019. The difference is that it would happen during a pandemic.
Protective health measures imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19, including drastically reduced bedspace at shelters along the route, mean fewer safe spaces for migrants in transit.
“The flow is increasing and … there’s less capacity than before to meet their needs,” said Sergio Martin, head of the nongovernment aid group Doctors Without Borders in Mexico.
Some shelters remain closed and almost all have had to reduce the number of migrants they can assist. Applications for visas, asylum or other official paperwork are delayed by the government’s reduced capacity to process them due to the pandemic.
“This is not a post-COVID migration; it is a migration in the middle of the pandemic,” said Ruben Figueroa, an activist with the Mesoamerican Migrant Movement.
Some migrants have expressed hope of a friendlier reception from the new U.S. administration or started moving when some borders were reopened. Others are being driven by two major hurricanes that ravaged Central America in November and desperation deepened by the economic impact of the pandemic.
Olga Rodríguez, 27, had been walking for a month since leaving Honduras with her husband and four children, aged 3 to 8, after Hurricane Eta flooded their house. They arrived in Mexico and applied for asylum, but were told it would take six months. Forced to sleep in the street, they changed plans. Now, their goal is the United States.
President Joe Biden’s administration has taken steps to roll back some of ex-President Donald Trump’s harshest policies, but one remains that allows U.S. border officials to immediately send back almost anyone due to the pandemic. The U.S. government is concerned that the more hopeful message could set off a rush for the border.
The number of people apprehended at the U.S.Mexico border in January was more than double that of January last year and 20,000 more than January 2019. This week, families have been seen crossing from Ciudad Juárez and turning themselves over to Border Patrol in hopes to applying for asylum.
“Wait in your country or, if you’re in Mexico, wait” until you can be sure you can cross legally, Roberta Jacobson, the White House’s lead advisor on the border, said recently.
Last week, the Biden administration announced that it would slowly start processing the approximately 25,000 asylum-seekers who were forced to wait out their process in Mexico under Trump. That was scheduled to begin Friday at three border crossings.