Haitians in Mexico
FEB. 23, 2022
A periodic update by The Haitian Times
Many Haitians are settling in Mexico as they are finding employment.
Haitians receive largest share of humanitarian visas in Mexico
MEXICO — Mexico’s National Institute of Migration granted 41,409 humanitarian visas to Haitians in 2021, making Haitians the largest group among many nationalities to receive that type of entry document. A recent report by Mexico’s Migration Policy Department, or Unidad de Política Migratoria, provides the statistics.
The visa, called Visitors Permit due to Humanitarian Concerns, or Tarjetas de Visitantes por Razones Humanitarias, allows Haitians to apply for jobs and housing in Mexico for a one-year period. In December 2021 alone, the report shows, about 70% of these visas were granted.
The increase in humanitarian visas took place as Mexico’s National Migration Institute was relocating Haitians from Tapachula, Chiapas to other cities.
A Dec. 5, 2021 Facebook post from the Haitian embassy in Mexico shared information on the relocation program.
“Congratulations to INAMI (Instituto Nacional de Migracion) and the Consulate of Haiti in Tapachula who were able to get 65 buses out of Tapachula on Saturday December 4, 2021 to other cities for a total of 2,951 Haitians. Good work,” read the post.
Tapachula, bordering Guatemala in the south of Mexico, is the main entry point for Haitians arriving from Chile and Brazil, and where most requests for asylum are made.
Because Mexican migration law says asylum seekers must complete the asylum applications in the department where their initial requests were made, tens of thousands of Haitians had been waiting for months in Tapachula.
The visa will allow Haitian asylum seekers to begin settling throughout Mexico, as many have decided to stay in the country after abandoning plans to reach the United States.
Haitians slowly joining formal labor force in Mexicali, Mexico
MEXICALI — About 170 Haitians are now employed at businesses that are part of Coparmex Mexicali, an advocacy and support group comprising local businesses, despite the slow pace of hiring of immigrants, reported El Imparcial.
Most of the jobs are in the textile industry, which has the greatest number of openings, Octavio Sandoval López, president of Coparmex Mexicali, told El Imparcial.
Sandoval López said hiring had been stagnant due to the difficulty of getting an appointment with the Tax Administration Service and because many Haitians don’t have a physical address in the city.
To date, local authorities have granted 200 appointments to Haitians to initiate the process of getting a Tax ID so they can seek employment.
Haitians, including 14 pregnant, moved from shelter to house ‘Stay in México’ refugees
MEXICALI — A group of 81 Haitians were relocated from a shelter in División del Norte, Mexicali, to make room for a group of Mexicans who are part of the ‘Stay in México’ program, reported Pregoreno de Baja California.
The United States government’s ‘Stay in Mexico’ program, officially known as Migrant Protocols Program, allows for asylum seekers who arrive in the U.S. by land to be returned to Mexico to wait while their immigration case is processed in the U.S.
The Haitians, which included 14 pregnant women, were relocated to various shelters in Mexicali during the weekend of Feb. 11, according to the Pregorenoreport.
Haitian children allowed to attend school in Nuevo León
NUEVO LEÓN, Mexico — The Secretary of Education of Nuevo León, México, declared that Haitian children will receive the support necessary to continue their education. That support will include making Haitian Creole teachers available in the schools, Telediario reported on Feb. 15.
Dr. Paul Farmer, global health giant, dies at 62
(CNN) — Dr. Paul Farmer, a physician who championed global health and sought to bring modern medical science to those most in need around the world, died unexpectedly in his sleep in Rwanda on Monday, according to Partners in Health, the nonprofit organization he founded. He was 62.
Farmer, who was also an infectious disease specialist and a medical anthropologist, is survived by his wife, Didi Bertrand Farmer, and three children.
Partners in Health CEO Dr. Sheila Davis said in a statement, "Paul Farmer's loss is devastating, but his vision for the world will live on through Partners in Health. Paul taught all those around him the power of accompaniment, love for one another, and solidarity. Our deepest sympathies are with his wife and three children."
Partners in Health, founded in 1987, had two goals: to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need of them and to serve as an antidote to despair.
In addition to the work he did as co-founder and chief strategist of Partners in Health, Farmer was chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He was a prolific writer and authored numerous books, including "Partner to the Poor."
The global medical community responded in shock and dismay to news of Farmer's death.
Farmer's life's work was the delivery of high-quality health care in resource-poor settings.
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CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta contributed to this report.
Haiti hikes minimum wage by up to 54% following worker protests
ReutersFebruary 21, 20224:50 PM EST
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Haiti's government on Monday hiked the minimum wage by as much as 54% following weeks of demonstrations by garment workers who say their wages are not enough to keep up with the rising cost of living.
The office of Prime Minister Ariel Henry on Twitter posted a sliding scale of wage hikes that vary by economic activity, with the greatest increase going to workers in areas such as the electricity and telecommunications industries.
Employees in the clothing manufacturing sector, which export finished products to U.S. retailers, received a 37% increase. That takes their wages to just under $7.50 per day, compared with the $15 per day that union leaders had demanded.
For decades, Haiti has promoted itself as a center for clothing manufacturing thanks to low wages and proximity to U.S. markets.
Workers over the years have complained that pay is too low to cover basic goods, which are often more expensive than in other countries due to weak infrastructure and gang violence.
A group of U.S. members of Congress in November said they were asking the heads of 62 American companies that import garments from Haiti for information on "protections in place for workers employed by their companies and suppliers."
Haitian officials have in the past said that increasing wages by too much would leave the garment industries at risk of losing competitiveness with respect to other countries such as the neighboring Dominican Republic.
Reporting by Gessika Thomas, writing by Brian Ellsworth; editing by Grant McCool
Haiti agrees to increase minimum wage
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 21, CMC – Haiti has announced an increase in the minimum wage less than a week after police used teargas to disperse textile workers who had taken to the streets to demand better pay.
The workers were demanding a 300 per cent increase in the minimum wage, which is now 500 Gourdes per eight-hour working day, in addition to other social benefits such as transport and food subsidies.
The Council of Ministers met on Sunday and agreed to increase the minimum wage for different categories of workers effective Monday.
According to the decree published in the Official Journal “Le Moniteur” workers in the private electricity production; financial institutions, telecommunications; import-export trade; supermarkets; jewellery stores; art galleries; furniture, furniture and appliance stores; doctor's office and polyclinics, will receive an 54 per cent increase moving their minimum wage from 500 to 770 Gourdes.
The council said workers in the buildings and public works (BTP); truck and heavy machinery rental companies; construction material rental companies; construction material transport companies; hardware stores; other financial institutions such as cooperatives, credit unions will receive a 39. 7 per cent increase with their new wages being 615 Gourdes, up from 440 Gourdes.
Another segment of workers who received 385 Gourdes per eight-hour day, will now receive 540 Gourdes and these workers are those in the restaurants; agriculture, forestry, livestock and fishing; agricultural products processing industry and retail trade.
The decree had also announced salary increases 37 to 40 per cent for workers whose daily pay ranges from 250to 440 Gourdes.
Last week, Senate President, Joseph Lambert, called for an independent investigation into the circumstances that led to cops using teargas to break up a demonstration by textile workers who had been seeking an increase in wages.
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