Mexico Feels Strained, Asylum Claims By Haitians May Hit A Record Above 50,000

Mexico's migrant services are already strained, and now a top official has said that asylum claims by people of Haiti in Mexico are on the way to hitting a record above 50,000 in the coming months.

This comes as many of them begin to contemplate a future in Mexico rather than in America.

According to data from the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR), in the first three months of 2023, more than 13,600 applied for refugee status.

Andres Ramirez, the head of COMAR, told Reuters that if the current trend continues, it surely "would exceed the level reached in 2021." Back then a record 52,000 sought asylum in Mexico.

Last week, Mexico City officials moved around 400 Haitians to a new shelter on the outskirts. They were earlier in an informal camp in a city plaza.

The increase in number may be partly due to toughening of U.S. border controls in January. It has made it harder for many migrants to cross by land into America. There is a parallel U.S. program that allows a monthly quota of people of Haiti to cross by air.

Haitians who are without sponsors or have irregularly crossed into Mexico or the U.S. will not qualify for the latter program. This leaves many of the migrants stranded in Mexico.

Earlier this year, Spectrum News 1 reported that there's a new way of getting things done if migrants want to claim asylum in the U.S.

Dougie Leblanc, a Haitian migrant who had reached Reynosa, México, found out about the new process on her first day.

She said that the way the process is, the migrants have to keep on waiting in a long line at the local office of the Instituto Nacional de Migración, so that they are legally in Mexico. They first get the permission and then they "will do the app," said Leblanc.

She was referring to the CBP One app, which is a part of the new process of asylum for Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans.

Also, most of the Haitians who are claiming asylum in Mexico do not qualify because they left their native land years ago due to economic reasons.

Authorities said that most of them arrive in Mexico from Brazil and Chile. They were resettled after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti. But they have been leaving in recent years amid economic, bureaucratic and cultural issues, as per US News & World Report.

Seven shelters that house nearly 900 migrants petitioned Mexico City to open a new one, said Gabriela Hernandez, director of the Casa Tochan migrant shelter in the city.