Although the number of Haitian migrants is decreasing in the 20 certified immigrant shelters in the city, members of the Strategic Humanitarian Aid Committee of Tijuana reported that some of them are using migrants to obtain financing and economic support.

A great deal of misinformation amongst migrants has also lead to this situation, where many of them think they are trapped or imprisoned in the facilities of the shelters, because they wrongly believe that they must stay there, ignoring their rights.

Soraya Vazquez, an active member of the Strategic Humanitarian Aid Committee of Tijuana, said that many of the shelters in the city don't have the skills or capacities to take care of migrants and they just use Haitians to raise funds.

"They use Haitians to ask for funding, many people give resources, not just the government, and these resources have not used them as other shelters have empowered them to be independent and seek autonomy, "she said.

She also made clear that authorities have not been scrupulous enough to combat abuses like these. They just "throw a warning at them and do not see why people are stuck there, in any way", Vazquez said.

Part of the Committee's work —which was born out from the interest of citizens wanting to do something about the immigrant crisis,—, are a series of workshops being held in the various shelters around the city where they have noticed all this disinformation about the rights Haitians have.

Gratefully, migrants now know a little more about the different processes to be able to regularize their stay in the city, although there are still forms or procedures that have not materialized or that are too convoluted for some, like as the remote passport form (which allows refugees to obtain their passports from their native countries) or obtaining the Mexican national identification number known as "CURP" after they have already the humanitarian stay card.

"It's the responsibility of the authorities, but they avoiding taking any responsability of the issues," said Soraya Vazquez in regards to the obstacles they have encountered in processes such as the CURP for Haitians, which is fundamental to register for a social security number.

Given the lack awareness of many of these issues, the Committee, in conjunction with Sin Fronteras IAP, the National Human Rights Commission, the Baja California Human Rights Commission, the International Community Foundation and Espacio Migrante AC, will provide training in the protection of the human rights of migrants at the the Colegio de la Frontera Norte campus on May 23 and 24, aimed at members of the different shelters of the city, which will be totally free.

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