Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, Governor of Baja California, signed an agreement with the Government of Michoacan, led by Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, whose goal is to create a joint strategy that benefits Michoacan immigrants in the state so as to avoid any vulnerabilities in this community.

During this agreement’s event that took place at Tijuana’s State Center of the Arts (CEART), Marina del Pilar stated that a high percentage of immigrant families arrive to Baja California in search of better opportunities from southern Mexican states with Michoacan being one of the main ones.

The Baja Californian governor explained that this is a state that brings possibilities to improve the quality of life of immigrants, which are here running away from violence that occurred due to mistaken political decisions from the past that are still affecting people from Michoacan.

“We are and have always been an immigrant state that has developed thanks to immigration,” the Governor said and added that the social influence of Michoacan culture has helped to make up the Baja Californian identity, with folklore and gastronomy being an example of this.

Marina del Pilar emphasized that during Andres Manuel López Obrador’s, President of Mexico, administration, authorities are recognizing for the first time forced displacement and are creating strategies to prevent any person from being forced to migrate from their place of origin so that all people can develop and live in peace wherever they decide.

“We are putting heart in front of everything for the families of our state, taking into account the people who need it the most, looking into their eyes and their needs, those who neoliberal policies condemned to abandon their lands,” Marina del Pilar stated.

She added that a public policy will be deployed where Michoacan immigrants who decide to go back to their state will be aided and accompanied to avoid putting their life or safety at risk, and if they decide to stay they will have permanent support from the Baja Californian government.

For his part, Ramírez Bedolla recognized the humane vision of the Governor of Baja California who has put the immigration topic at the forefront, which is why she has shown total disposition to work together to assist people of both states. He recognized that immigration has united in fighting spirit several generations of immigrants who are looking for a better quality of life.

Because of this, the Governor of Michoacan stated that the immigration issue should be approached with a gender perspective and gave as an example that at least 70% of immigrant people that arrive in Baja California are women and children fleeing from family and gender violence. Because of this, this subject is essential for this agreement.

At this agreement’s signing, the following people were present: Baja California Secretary of the Interior, Catalino Zavala Márquez; Michoacan Immigrant Secretary, Brenda Fabiola Fraga Gutiérrez, and Subsecretary of Immigration Issues of the Government’s Secretariat of the Interior, Adriana Minerva Espinoza Nolasco.

*Marina del Pilar backs new investments in Baja California*

On the other hand, Scantibodies company executives announced a 78-million-dollar investment in front of Baja Californian Governor, Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda.

In Tecate, they will expand their manufacturing area with automatized production equipment, laboratory growth, purchase of a semitruck fleet, and a restaurant for employees called La Viña, which will create 1,800 new jobs.

Scantibodies company will open a new manufacturing facility in Tijuana, which is why it purchased a 200,000 square feet warehouse at Colonia Ciudad Industrial in Otay, with a potential growth of 500 job positions.

“This is precisely what we are looking for in Baja California. Companies putting people at their core and thinking of the well-being of the people. This can change people’s lives,” the Governor said while visiting the facilities.

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