After the assassination of Haiti’s president and a significant earthquake in Haiti’s southern peninsula, the logical next step seemed to be thousands of Haitians trying to enter the U.S. Haiti is in shambles; of course people want to escape. So not very many people were surprised when 30,000 Haitians arrived in Del Rio, Texas. But they should be surprsied! This is clear from the weirdest part of it: it happened in Texas!!
Thanks for the post! It's interesting but this doesn't really answer the question posed. Why did they end up in Texas instead of California (or any other state)? Land crossing from Chile all the way to the US involves multiple border crossing plus hopping a canal. Are they truly making that journey? Or, if not, are they flying to Mexico then crossing at the closest border? Is that because of Mexican visa policies? The TPS policy explains the surge, but I'd love to learn more about the logistics
Despite its many holes, your story may be a good starter to explain how Haitian immigrants have been moving around all of America. I live in Santiago, Chile, in front of the nice square well maintained by the municipality, and by 2018, most workers were Haitians (in February 2018, I visited Punta Arenas and I was surprised to see a few Haitian immigrants). The trend has reversed, however, but I attribute it to the increasing competition of immigrants from other countries and more recently Chileans impoverished by the government's response to the pandemic. I don't have the data but immigrants from other countries (especially, Venezuela and Colombia) have outnumbered Haitian immigration in the past 5 years. Although I disagree with you about the new immigration of the past 5-10 years leading to xenophobia in Chile (btw, I migrated to Chile 20 years ago), in 2018 the visa policy was changed to restrict immigration, and during the pandemic, the discussion has been hot only after incidents, including a violent reaction a few weeks ago in Iquique (see https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-58700359 ).
Anyway, you should remember that following Fidel's example, some LA governments have been encouraging emigration to consolidate and expand their power-grab. Haitians have to compete with these migrants.
How did 30,000 Haitians get to Texas?
Thanks for the post! It's interesting but this doesn't really answer the question posed. Why did they end up in Texas instead of California (or any other state)? Land crossing from Chile all the way to the US involves multiple border crossing plus hopping a canal. Are they truly making that journey? Or, if not, are they flying to Mexico then crossing at the closest border? Is that because of Mexican visa policies? The TPS policy explains the surge, but I'd love to learn more about the logistics
*they weren't whips
I should point out the mounted police weren't carrying whips, but saddle reigns.
Despite its many holes, your story may be a good starter to explain how Haitian immigrants have been moving around all of America. I live in Santiago, Chile, in front of the nice square well maintained by the municipality, and by 2018, most workers were Haitians (in February 2018, I visited Punta Arenas and I was surprised to see a few Haitian immigrants). The trend has reversed, however, but I attribute it to the increasing competition of immigrants from other countries and more recently Chileans impoverished by the government's response to the pandemic. I don't have the data but immigrants from other countries (especially, Venezuela and Colombia) have outnumbered Haitian immigration in the past 5 years. Although I disagree with you about the new immigration of the past 5-10 years leading to xenophobia in Chile (btw, I migrated to Chile 20 years ago), in 2018 the visa policy was changed to restrict immigration, and during the pandemic, the discussion has been hot only after incidents, including a violent reaction a few weeks ago in Iquique (see https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-58700359 ).
Anyway, you should remember that following Fidel's example, some LA governments have been encouraging emigration to consolidate and expand their power-grab. Haitians have to compete with these migrants.