Police Clash With Haitian Asylum Seekers In Mexico City

For the third consecutive day, dozens of Haitian migrants on Thursday went to the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) in Mexico City to request that the authorities grant them a humanitarian visa.

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Since Tuesday, the COMAR headquarters had been guarded by police officers, who tried to evict the Haitians who were peacefully protesting in order to obtain some document that would allow them to get a job and rent a house on their own.

“We have spent up to six months here without documents. We have to pay rent and support children and older adults. Other immigrants do have documents. Haitians don't. We need to know why,” said Raquel, as reported by local outlet Diario Contraste.

Asylum seekers demonstrations have also occurred in other Mexican cities. For example, in Monterrey, a city located near the border with the United States, hundreds of Haitians have been protesting since December to get help from federal officials.

“The country's immigration authorities, however, have not resolved their cases. They cannot access formal employment, which has generated demonstrations and partial blockades,” the Colegio de la Frontera Norte reported.

In Mexico City, many undocumented Haitians who have no income survive in migrant shelters where charities offer them food and teach them Spanish.

This happens, for example, at Casa Tochan, a shelter created for Central American migrants that has welcomed over 100 Haitians of all ages in the last year.