We visited the migrant shelter and it looks like this

By Shalom Valdez

We visited the migrant shelter and it looks like this
The photographer Shalom Valdez visited the migrant shelter where the Hondurans are staying in Tijuana.

The unidad deportiva Benito Juárez was the space provided by the city’s government as a shelter, to receive hundreds of Central Americans that are part of the migrant caravan that traveled for the most part from Honduras with the objective to seek political asylum in United States.

Cesar Palencia Chavez, the Director of Support for Migrants of the district, in charge of the coordination for migrant help in Tijuana; pointed out that there is no significant federal funding to attend to this problem. He also sated that the city’s government had to enable the space, provide food and medical assistance.

Civil organizations in the city, nationals, internationals, the IOM (International Organization for Migration) that take part in the UN, UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency) with the Red Cross, are attending this situation.

The UN has approached the city council to look for international resources to face this migratory crisis and humanitarian contingency with the arrival of hundreds of people in Tijuana.

Palencia Chavez indicated that “we have been requesting federal funding for weeks, we have done everything humanly possible to attend to their needs”.

There is not a set time to keep the migrants in the shelter, but the support will be given as long as they need it. It is understood that hundreds more will arrive to Tijuana, a little over 3000 people.

The medical attention is given through medical units, which are located outside of the shelter so that people can be helped inside and outside of the premises. A kitchen was provided by the Sports Complex, so the migrants are organized to be fed.

Here below a fragment of the interview with Palencia Chavez: