TIJUANA, MEXICO, December 1—In large or small groups, even alone; it is a constant trickle. The migrants arrive every day, and they do not stop arriving at the already overcrowded shelters in Tijuana. They say there are thousands; nobody counts them anymore. Because in the end, they have never counted. That’s why they had to escape from Central America and shout to the whole world: “WE WANT TO WORK, WE ARE HUNGRY, THEY ARE KILLING OUR FAMILIES!” And on their journey they have met with enormous human solidarity, but also with metal walls with spikes, and walls of hate, hatred that continues to grow slowly.
Recently, there was a sad day for the volunteers of the shelters who, day after day, take care of this new group of refugees. Previously they had done this with the Haitians who arrived by the thousands, and many still live in the poor neighborhoods of Tijuana.
A volunteer, a friend of ICWP, commented about his frustration with the events that took place on Sunday, November 25, when a peaceful march got out of control and was attacked by the US Border Patrol with tear gas. They also used rubber bullets that wounded several members of the caravan, and sent a member of a pro-migrant group to the hospital.
These events, says the volunteer, affect the morale of everyone who saw a lively march begin, and return defeated. In the voice of the volunteer who has been helping in the shelters assisting the deported immigrants and migrants in transit, one hears, and feels the impotence. He and his cousins have been helping in the shelters and collection centers. In the house of a grandmother who died, they called to collect all that could be useful. They involved the whole family, young and old, who have collaborated in the preparation of food and other chores. An immigrant family, according to the volunteer: “With a big heart.”
Clothes are scarce, food is limited. The cough is a symphony that predicts greater evils and gnaws more at the children. A plague of lice also cohabits with the poorest. Migrants and volunteers live and coexist in these conditions.
The campaign of hate is gradually winning a certain part of the population of Tijuana, especially in the middle class that has no problems crossing the border. They are the privileged ones, but they are influencing the rest of the population. Outside the shelter located in downtown Tijuana, in the North zone, a group of racists tried to beat some migrants who responded to the aggression, and ended up being arrested.
But in spite of everything, the majority of migrants are willing to continue to the end. So are the volunteers who are doing commendable work.
Students from the Ibero-Americana University have fitted out showers so that the migrants can bathe privately.
Donations have fallen, but willing people have taken on the task of asking for more through social networks, which have become battlegrounds where volunteers resist and counteract racist and nationalist attacks.
And the doors of the wall do not open. Trump has threatened to seal it indefinitely, which puts the governor of Baja California and the mayor of Tijuana in a bind.
Tijuana is the crown jewel on Mexico’s northern border. Millions of dollars would be lost from the tourism industry if the border were sealed. The US cities that border Tijuana would also be affected, and in the long run the entire country. In fact, it is estimated that the city of San Ysidro alone, a small community on the US side, lost US$ 5.3 million in the hours that they closed the border. That’s what worries the bosses the most. Not the lives of human beings who are looking for work to sustain their families.
Capitalism’s crises make communism necessary
The crises that capitalism provokes are not going to end in one fell swoop. Forced migration is part of this unjust system. The millions of migrants who roam the world seek work, refuge, security, things that the capitalist system can not offer them.
The bosses are busier creating wars to get markets to satisfy their thirst for profits. In fact, the drums of war are already beating again on the Russia/Ukraine border, which would again cause thousands more migrants.
Fascism and war are coming. We have to crush them, it is a necessity; it is an obligation. And only by fighting for Communism can we win the battle.
San Diego, California, USA, Next to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
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