Increased flow of migrants from Brazil and Venezuela to northern Mexico

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Some arrive with the purpose of heading to other nearby borders and others with the goal of settling in the municipality receiving them.

On November 11, 150 people of Brazilian and Venezuelan origin arrived at the Juventud 2000 shelter in the Tijuana’s Zona Norte neighborhood, and left within two hours.

According to the center’s leader and founder José María García, the directors of the National System for the Comprehensive Development of Families (DIF) of the State of Baja California called him and asked him to use his facilities as a reference point for the migrants.

The group of over 100 people including women, men, and children suddenly arrived asking only for food and after resting, they began to call cabs on their own.

“These 150 people arrived and have already moved from here in several cabs they called themselves to move around the city and they said they were going to stay in some hotels and apartments they had arranged,” the activist explained.

Garcia said that on the night of November 10, 45 migrants from Brazil arrived at the same shelter, who also only ate and left.

He explained that because of the language he was unable to interview them, however, when speaking with a group of Venezuelans they indicated that they were interested in moving to the borders of the cities of Tecate and Mexicali, while others want to remain in Tijuana.

“The community does not want to stay in shelters, they are settling in the city, we do not know why they are here since we could not interview anyone,” he said.

Five days ago the National Guard and the National Migration Institute stopped a Transportes Amparo truck in which 75 migrants were hiding, 16 from Venezuela, 58 from Brazil, as well as a Portuguese citizen.

The migrants were handed over to the immigration authorities and, according to reports, were on their way to a shelter in Playas de Tijuana.

The region is experiencing an unprecedented migration wave since early this year with a historic flow of 147,000 undocumented migrants detected in Mexico from January through August, triple the number in 2020, and a record 212,000 migrants detained in July alone by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Migration increased in Mexico since October 2018, when caravans with thousands of mostly Central American migrants began entering the country to reach the United States.