Haitian Migrants In San Diego Are Making Their Way To Miami
Haitian Migrants In San Diego Are Making Their Way To Miami
By NADEGE GREEN • 10 HOURS AGO
The dead bodies haunt Wislande Philippe.
“There were so many who died,” said Phillipe, 29. “Pregnant women. Children. You’re walking past them and there’s nothing you can do help them.”
Philippe is one of thousands of Haitians who have taken a perilous 11-country journey from Brazil to reach the United States.
In some cases, the migrants were living in Brazil, which welcomed Haitians after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, but now with the country’s failing economy many are fleeing poverty there in the hopes of a better life in the U.S.
Also, as attempts to reach the U.S. via the water has become increasingly difficult because of Coast Guard interceptions -- Haitian migrants and their smugglers are opting to come by land through Brazil to San Diego, California.
Philippe took the trek with her boyfriend Alexi Milki. At night they slept alongside rivers and in bushes.
“We went through a lot to get here. We just want a chance to work and live in this country” said Milki who is now living in Miami with Philippe.
When the migrants do make it to the U.S. San Diego, California is only a temporary stop.
“Ninety percent are headed to the East coast,” said Andrea Guerrero, executive director of Alliance San Diego, a non profit that has been helping to connect Haitian migrants with their families and friends stateside.
“They’re headed mostly to Florida, the Miami and Orlando area and some are going to New York,” she said.
http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net...104_171906.jpgRodeline Pierre and her 1-year old son took the perilous journey from Brazil to San Diego, California. Her husband was detained by U.S. immigration officials. She was released and now lives in Miami.
CREDIT NADEGE GREEN / WLRN
The office of Famn Ayisyen Nan Miyami (Haitian Women of Miami) in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood is usually busy.
On a recent afternoon, a staff member was helping Rodilen Pierre find emergency housing for the night.
Pierre is a recent arrival from San Diego. Immigration authorities released her and her one-year old son Dieuveson.
Her husband is in a detention center, likely awaiting deportation.
She hasn’t heard from him after he was transferred from a California detention facility to another location.
“I didn’t know it would be like this,” said Pierre. “I’m all by myself with nowhere to go relying on complete strangers for help.”
Her husband’s family in Miami took her in for a few nights, but once they realized he probably wouldn’t be released any time soon they told her she would have to find somewhere else to live.
At one point some migrants at the border were being released with monitoring bracelets and future court hearings because of limited jail space.
After Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti in October, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement temporarily halted all deportations, but have since taken a more hard lined stance.
http://wlrn.org/post/haitian-migrant...heir-way-miami
