AsianTrumpSupporter
Platinum Member
And Mexicans don't seem too happy about it:
Long a way station for refugees, immigrants, Mexico now playing host
Long a way station for refugees, immigrants, Mexico now playing host
Five times over the past 14 years, Melvin, a young Honduran, attempted to cross the southern border of the United States. Five times, he was caught and deported back to Central America.
On his sixth bid to leave Honduras late last year, however, he decided to halt his journey much closer to home. Melvin and his family, who suffered death threats and extortion by local gangs in Honduras, applied for refugee status in Mexico, and are now awaiting the government’s response.
“We can walk around freely now,” says Melvin, standing with his family in their sweltering, one-room rental here in a neighborhood of low-slung concrete homes, not far from the northeast border of Guatemala. “In Honduras, someone is always looking for you.” [Even publishing his full name could make it dangerous for his family, which is why only refugees' first names are used in this story.]
But his and others’ arrivals are causing a stir in Mexico. For decades, the nation has sent its own citizens north to the United States and increasingly served as a transit country for migrants from farther south. But as the environment has soured for refugees and migrants in the US – and as tougher policing on Mexico’s southern border and criminal gangs have made the trip more dangerous – some are considering Mexico in a new light: that of host. This year, experts expect the number of refugee applicants could reach 20,000, nearly five times the roughly 3,400 solicitations in 2015 and more than double the 2016 numbers.
It’s laying the groundwork for a new conversation in Mexico. Today’s influx of refugees and migrants looking to stay is causing some to consider for the first time what their welcome mat will look like.
The conversation is most clearly heard in communities where refugees are gathering. In Tenosique’s small “central park” – a concrete plaza sprinkled with a handful of tree-shaded benches – many members of this small city casually mix their family’s narratives about migration with their observations about the mostly Central Americans who have lately taken to sticking around.
“We don’t know if they are here to enjoy themselves or to make trouble,” says Carmen Dama, who works at a suit-rental store. “I met one Guatemalan who told me about the violence. It’s terrible. And her family couldn’t earn a living wage. She can earn much more here,” Ms. Dama says.
But, she adds, “We are getting the good and the bad” amid the arrival of more people here...
..“Just like in other parts of the world, in Mexico there’s the question of who are these people. Are they criminals? Do they deserve asylum here?” says José Luis Loera, director of Casa Refugiados, a Mexico City-based nongovernmental organization that helps support the integration of refugees. “Xenophobia is more and more present in Mexican society...
Canada is also becoming more xenophobic about illegal immigrants:
People are actually fleeing to Canada, and Canada is overwhelmed
Suddenly, Trump doesn't look so racist.
Long a way station for refugees, immigrants, Mexico now playing host
Long a way station for refugees, immigrants, Mexico now playing host
Five times over the past 14 years, Melvin, a young Honduran, attempted to cross the southern border of the United States. Five times, he was caught and deported back to Central America.
On his sixth bid to leave Honduras late last year, however, he decided to halt his journey much closer to home. Melvin and his family, who suffered death threats and extortion by local gangs in Honduras, applied for refugee status in Mexico, and are now awaiting the government’s response.
“We can walk around freely now,” says Melvin, standing with his family in their sweltering, one-room rental here in a neighborhood of low-slung concrete homes, not far from the northeast border of Guatemala. “In Honduras, someone is always looking for you.” [Even publishing his full name could make it dangerous for his family, which is why only refugees' first names are used in this story.]
But his and others’ arrivals are causing a stir in Mexico. For decades, the nation has sent its own citizens north to the United States and increasingly served as a transit country for migrants from farther south. But as the environment has soured for refugees and migrants in the US – and as tougher policing on Mexico’s southern border and criminal gangs have made the trip more dangerous – some are considering Mexico in a new light: that of host. This year, experts expect the number of refugee applicants could reach 20,000, nearly five times the roughly 3,400 solicitations in 2015 and more than double the 2016 numbers.
It’s laying the groundwork for a new conversation in Mexico. Today’s influx of refugees and migrants looking to stay is causing some to consider for the first time what their welcome mat will look like.
The conversation is most clearly heard in communities where refugees are gathering. In Tenosique’s small “central park” – a concrete plaza sprinkled with a handful of tree-shaded benches – many members of this small city casually mix their family’s narratives about migration with their observations about the mostly Central Americans who have lately taken to sticking around.
“We don’t know if they are here to enjoy themselves or to make trouble,” says Carmen Dama, who works at a suit-rental store. “I met one Guatemalan who told me about the violence. It’s terrible. And her family couldn’t earn a living wage. She can earn much more here,” Ms. Dama says.
But, she adds, “We are getting the good and the bad” amid the arrival of more people here...
..“Just like in other parts of the world, in Mexico there’s the question of who are these people. Are they criminals? Do they deserve asylum here?” says José Luis Loera, director of Casa Refugiados, a Mexico City-based nongovernmental organization that helps support the integration of refugees. “Xenophobia is more and more present in Mexican society...
Canada is also becoming more xenophobic about illegal immigrants:
People are actually fleeing to Canada, and Canada is overwhelmed
Suddenly, Trump doesn't look so racist.
