Mexican authorities had limited capacity to manage the country’s recent wave of Haitian migrants, who lived in dire conditions and struggled with the country’s immigration system, said a report published Thursday by an international refugee advocacy organization.
“The Mexican government responded to Haitian migration chaotically and without proper attention to human rights, protection, and integration,” concludes the 22-page report from Refugees International, “Today Haitians in Mexico remain in the shadows, lacking work and services.”
For the investigation, titled “Pushed into the Shadows: Mexico’s Reception of Haitian Migrants,” researchers examined Mexican policy from last summer onward and interviewed Haitian migrants who came to Mexico without documents and who sought some form of immigration relief. They also spoke to people representing non-profits and shelters as well as local immigration authorities and the United Nations.
