The Tablet: Organisations in Tijuana have been overwhelmed by the arrival of thousands of Haitians

Categories immigration, mexico
The Tablet: Organisations in Tijuana have been overwhelmed by the arrival of thousands of Haitians

Tijuana, Mexico— Two weeks after President Donald Trump took the oath of office in the White House, and a week after he signed an executive order to move forward with building a wall along the US border with Mexico, migrant shelters in Tijuana are prepare to bear the brunt of events 4,500km north-east in Washington DC. “Physical walls don’t accomplish anything other than ecological damage, and emotional damage,” says Gilberto Martínez Amaya, the coordinator of the Casa del Migrante shelter. He explains that due to…Continue Reading “The Tablet: Organisations in Tijuana have been overwhelmed by the arrival of thousands of Haitians” →

Truthout: US Shut Haitians Out, Just Days Before Hurricane Hit Their Homeland

Categories immigration, mexico
Truthout: US Shut Haitians Out, Just Days Before Hurricane Hit Their Homeland

TIJUANA, Mexico — “People want a bit of land, to be able to study and to have hope for a better life,” said Bernard Deshommes, 32, from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He left after the 2010 earthquake that destroyed his home, and relocated to Chile. “When people have public safety and sanitation, they don’t want to leave their country,” he told Truthout. He is now staying in a shelter at a Pentecostal church in Tijuana, Mexico, waiting to cross to the United States. Facing economic difficulties in…Continue Reading “Truthout: US Shut Haitians Out, Just Days Before Hurricane Hit Their Homeland” →

CultureStrike: Global Beats, Decolonized Minds

Categories borders, hiphop, immigration, mexico
CultureStrike: Global Beats, Decolonized Minds

My profile of Mexican hiphop artists Bocafloja was published yesterday in CultureStrike, a magazine covering the intersection of arts and migration. Over a coffee in New York, Bocafloja talked about the origins of hiphop in Mexico City in the 1990s, how he built a collective that transgresses borders and his new album “Cumbé“. You can read the full piece here. “’It was almost accidental,’ says Bocafloja, on how he got into hiphop as a teenager in the 1990s. ‘Whenever migrant workers returned from the U.S….Continue Reading “CultureStrike: Global Beats, Decolonized Minds” →

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We Don’t Know What to Call the Millions Who Will Be Forced From Home by Climate Change

Categories borders, climate change, immigration

I published a feature on GOOD from Paris, examining the impacts of climate change on migration and displacement. Read the full article here. “Ousmane Badiaga, an undocumented immigrant living in Paris, was a rice farmer in his home country of Senegal. Speaking to an audience in a suburb of Paris during the United Nations climate summit, he told his story. ‘In 2010 there was a terrible drought, and we had to take on a very big debt to plant. This happened again in 2012.’ Badiaga told…Continue Reading “We Don’t Know What to Call the Millions Who Will Be Forced From Home by Climate Change” →

In Paris, Activists Challenge COP Inaction and Propose Solutions

Categories alternative economies, borders, climate change, climate justice, false solutions, immigration, social movements, Uncategorized
In Paris, Activists Challenge COP Inaction and Propose Solutions

My second dispatch from Paris at COP21 has been published on The Americas Program. “The Juarés Plaza in Montreuil, a small city to the east of Paris, is thronged with people, dancing, chanting and carrying bulky chairs above their heads. The procession winds out of the square to the applause of the audience. If I’d had time to count, it would have been 196 chair—all ‘requisitioned’ from area banks—to represent the 196 countries at the COP21 negotiations.” Read on to learn what requisitioned chairs, colonial…Continue Reading “In Paris, Activists Challenge COP Inaction and Propose Solutions” →

Migrant Shelter Sees Growing Number of Minors Heading North

Categories borders, immigration, mexico
Migrant Shelter Sees Growing Number of Minors Heading North

Please visit The Americas Program page to read my recent article on the rising trend of minors migrating north through Mexico. Based on my volunteer work and reporting in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, I discuss why minors are forced north and what conditions they face along the way. “On a recent day in March, Luis (name changed), a 17-year-old Guatemalan, arrived in the migrant shelter Hermanos en el Camino (Brothers and Sisters on the Road), in Ixtepec, Oaxaca. Standing just over 5 feet tall, he pulled his…Continue Reading “Migrant Shelter Sees Growing Number of Minors Heading North” →

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Border Environment Sacrificed for National Security

Categories borders, center for new community, immigration

Final (for now) in my series on race, migration and the environment for Center for New Community. Enjoy! Originally posted on Imagine 2050. by Martha Pskowski   A bill recently introduced in Congress, the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act (H.R. 1505), by Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT), is the latest signal that the environment is being sacrificed in pursuit of “national security” at the border.  This bill, and several laws that came before, are putting to waste the work of many environmentalists to protect the border…Continue Reading “Border Environment Sacrificed for National Security” →