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In Tijuana, 40 migrant children are given identities

Authorities remain concerned about the migrant minors who are camped in ''El Chaparral'' and remain exposed to the upcoming weather in the border region.

As of this April 15, the Direction of Attention to Migrants registered around 660 immigrant children distributed in 8 municipal shelters in the city of Tijuana, adding to this figure, the 600 minors that continue to reside in the migrant camp located in ''El Chaparral''.

The concern of the local authority is that the nearly 600 children and infants that are in the plaza of the border crossing point suffer from conditions that may result in health issues; it is also of concern that the rest of the population is not a labor force migration, but is fleeing violence from countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador as well as from the states of Guerrero and Michoacan.

In view of the increase from 200 to 2 thousand people in mobility conditions in only two months, the municipal agency has carried out, as a humanitarian support, 40 registrations to the same number of minors who did not have a document that identifies them as citizens. It should be clarified that the processing of the certificates of those who were born outside of Tijuana, in their places of origin or who were born during the caravan's journey to the north, obtained their certificates with the presentation of all the required legal documents, because they have the constitutional right to have an identity.

Personnel of the Directorate has informed that there are, for now, four pregnant women, to whom both the General Hospital and the Women's Hospital will support them with the delivery, children who will automatically be Mexicans with all their rights. The agency points out that if the child has a document that identifies him/her as Mexican, the parents are granted the right to have permanent residency, although it is difficult for them to obtain it due to the high tax they have to pay to the National Migration Institute (INM) of close to 8 thousand pesos per person to formalize their stay in the country.

Many of the people in a mobility situation travel without economic resources and although the municipality manages the waiver of the federal payment, as long as they do not have a document that protects them as Mexicans, they cannot get a formal job. It is not easy for foreign parents to obtain legal residency, but it would give them the possibility of obtaining a labor right, therefore, it would include health services or education, with the exception of political rights.

According to the information registered at the agency, the children who have yet to complete this procedure are limited in carrying out the registration, since those who claim to be their parents or guardians do not have the medical documents or birth certificates that attest to their blood ties. The instruction has been clear for the Direction of Attention to Migrants: they must attend to the children and infants. The support of blankets, bathrooms and public showers by the City Hall and the State, continues as part of the basic protection of human rights.

RELATED VIDEO: Video of immigration agent hugging child at San Ysidro border crossing goes viral

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