Jessica Xantomila and Jared Laureles
La Jornada Newspaper
Sunday, December 8, 2024, p. 4
With just one or two blankets and jackets per family, foreigners living in the irregular camps of Mexico City must endure the low temperatures, between 5 and 6 degrees, that are recorded during the early morning hours this season.
The lack of warm spaces, due to the fact that they live in small rooms built with scraps of wood or in tents, and the lack of adequate clothing, has caused respiratory diseases to increase in this population, especially in children.
María, a Honduran, has lived for seven months in the settlement located on Avenida 100 meters, near the North Bus Station. The little ranchas migrants call their rooms, she shares it with her three children and husband, who has made adjustments to mitigate the cold.
In an interview, he points out that he placed a tarp on the roof and inside he put blankets on the wooden walls. so that the wind doesn’t get too much, because I suffer from my nose and when it’s cool I can get blood, especially in the early mornings, when the cold gets worse, because in the morning the sun comes out little by little.
.
outside of your ranchitoin the middle of thirty similar rooms set on wooden platforms, María, who on December 20 will enter the United States via the CBP One system to request asylum in that country, explained that recently supportive people also donated a mattress, which which has also helped him cope with the climate.
Before we slept on boards and bundles of clothes, but now we have our mattress and we have something lined inside.
she expressed gratefully.
Another Venezuelan migrant, who preferred to omit his name, stated that in his case he has had to sleep in the clothes he wears during the day, because if not, we can’t stand the cold
. Due to this situation, he said that respiratory diseases, such as coughs and flu, have increased, particularly among children.
However, he emphasized that the minors have been cared for by a brigade from the international organization Doctors Without Borders, who come with us once a week
.
On the other hand, some shelters for undocumented immigrants and refugee seekers have also called for donations of warm clothing, such as Casa Tochan, located at 75 Campo Florido Street, José María Pino Suárez neighborhood, Álvaro Obregón mayor’s office.
Gabriela Hernández, director of the aforementioned shelter, explained that they especially need winter clothing for men, such as jackets, sweaters, scarves and gloves
. However, he specified that they also accept minors, because currently among the people it houses there is a nine-year-old child.
