海角大神

Dusk is falling on the trash-strewn dirt road that leads up to the Ambassadors of Jesus Church on a recent weekday afternoon. A few clusters of young men stomp their way up the path, past muddy hogs and a dog racing up and down a fence line.

The men鈥檚 dark skin and foreign tongue make it easy to identify them as outsiders, but strangers are nothing new here.

Each week,听Tijuana receives thousands of people fleeing violence or seeking opportunity, including Mexican deportees, Central American migrants, and refugees from around the globe. Its border with the United States is the most trafficked international crossing in the world. 听

Many residents have grown accustomed to the long-term challenges that come with Tijuana's transitional nature, like deportees living in canals along the border, or migrants being recruited into criminal gangs. But a recent group of arrivals drew a new kind of attention听鈥� and action听鈥� from locals. Starting last spring, thousands of Haitians descended upon Tijuana on their way to the United States.

鈥淧eople were arriving in the middle of the night, looking for help,鈥� Pastor Gustavo Banda Aceves says, standing inside his church, The Ambassadors of Jesus, on the outskirts of the city. The periphery of the sanctuary is covered with mattresses, cots, and drying clothes, signs of the some 200 Haitian men, women, and children sheltered here. Last December, the space was filled with nearly 600 people.

鈥淭hese are different kinds of migrants,鈥� he says.

Outpouring of support

The perception that these migrants had distinctive needs drove an outpouring of support. Almost overnight, the number of Tijuana migrant shelters jumped from roughly 12 to more than 30. Locals fundraised to deliver clothes, food, and trainings to Haitians in need. Pastor Banda and his wife donated land in hopes of building听arguably Mexico鈥檚 first 鈥淟ittle Haiti,鈥� and local businessmen started passing by shelters, offering jobs specifically for Haitians.

That mobilization of support echoes a phenomenon seen around the globe, amid some of the worst refugee crises in decades. Yet along with the eager helping hands comes a glimpse of an unpleasant reality: Consciously or not, communities sometimes prioritize certain types of refugees or migrants over others, making the decision that some groups are more 鈥渨orthy鈥� of help and attention.

From Germany to Lebanon and Kenya to the United States,听how migrant or refugee groups are accepted or rejected can come down to language, how they look, religion, and cultural practices. Even the legal labels used to describe them 鈥� whether refugee or migrant 鈥� can play a part in how newcomers are welcomed by host communities.

Although the attention Haitians have garnered in Tijuana has at times been controversial 鈥� with some reprimanding locals for prioritizing them over fellow citizens 鈥� it has also sparked renewed interest in other groups in need here.

鈥淗aitians have felt like a priority,鈥� says Jos茅 Mar铆a Garc铆a Lara, who runs the shelter Movimiento Juventud 2000,听which for nearly 25 years has served deportees, homeless people, drug addicts, and migrants from around the globe.听Last year, the shelter set up a makeshift camp in a muddy lot next door to house the influx of Haitians.

But, Mr. Lara says, 鈥渕any here have started standing up and saying, 鈥榃ait, we can鈥檛 forget our own.鈥� 鈥�

Gregory Bull/AP

Haitians make their way towards the border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico on Sept. 27, 2016. US officials say about 5,000 Haitians showed up at San Ysidro from October 2015 through late last month, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldana said at a recent congressional hearing that officials told her on a trip to Central America that 40,000 more were on their way.

'Unprecedented and unexpected'

The Haitians arriving here 鈥� most of whom traveled overland from Brazil, where they鈥檇 fled after Haiti鈥檚 devastating 2010 earthquake听鈥撎齞rew residents鈥� attention for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most pressing was the United States鈥� decision last September to resume deportations for Haitians entering the country without proper documentation,听who had previously been allowed to stay in the country for several years under a humanitarian parole policy.听The shift essentially left thousands of Haitians stranded in Mexico, where they hadn't planned to put down roots.听

They arrived poorly dressed for the weather, with young children in tow, after months-long journeys through up to eight countries. They experienced robberies, injuries, hunger, and, in some cases, witnessed deaths along the way. About 3,500 are still here.

鈥淭his was an unprecedented and unexpected migratory event,鈥� Rodulfo Figueroa Pacheco,听a delegate from Mexico鈥檚 National Immigration Institute, told the Tijuana weekly magazine Zeta earlier this year.

Tijuana was once a central hub for migrants heading to the US. But starting in the mid-1990s, when border controls tightened, migrants moved east to cross via the desert, where they were less likely to be detected.听Today the city鈥檚 migratory population is mostly made up of deportees and people seeking asylum in the United States.听

But throughout Tijuana鈥檚 long history of receiving people in transit, 鈥淚鈥檝e never seen this kind of reaction [to migrants in need] before,鈥� says Soraya V谩zquez, a human rights lawyer.

In part, the way Haitians physically stand out means it鈥檚 easier to identify the hardships they face: only about 1 percent of Mexicans are black. Central American migrants often come into the country without applying for transit visas, meaning they not only blend in physically in Mexico, but they鈥檙e invisible in the eyes of officials, as well. That can mean less public awareness and more abuses along their journey north, says Lara.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 confuse who [the Haitians] are or where they are from,鈥� says Ms. V谩zquez. 鈥淎nd their needs are clear. This has been an emergency that is impossible to ignore.鈥�

Last September, V谩zquez helped found the Strategic Committee for Humanitarian Aid Tijuana, which connects the outpouring of donations for Haitians with shelters across the city. Even before the surge, there was limited government support for these hubs, making donations and volunteerism key.

'What do you lack?'

But amid the food, blankets, clothing, and know-your-rights training courses disseminated at shelters here, and the international media attention garnered by the Haitians鈥� arrival, a hierarchy of perceived needs emerged, with Haitians at the top. 听

Last December, a group of locals set up a table of food and drinks to give to Haitians in limbo. But when a Mexican got in line, a local taxi driver told the man he , PBS reports: 鈥淚 told him, you鈥檙e Mexican. What do you lack?鈥�

Criticism is also aimed at deportees from the US, caught between categories of 鈥渘ative-born鈥� and 鈥渘ewcomer鈥�: after years away, the return to Mexico hardly feels like coming home.

鈥淲e鈥檙e treated differently because of our time in the US,鈥� says Sandra Gonz谩lez, who was deported six years ago, after more than three decades in the US. The first few years back in Mexico, she was homeless, selling bubble gum on the street.

鈥淧eople don鈥檛 want to give deportees work,鈥� she says, waiting in a doubled-back line of hungry men and women outside Tijuana鈥檚 Desayunador Salesiano 鈥淧adre Chava鈥澨齭oup kitchen on a recent Wednesday morning. Padre Chava serves breakfast for up to 1,200 people every day. 鈥淭hey think you鈥檝e been in jail or you can鈥檛 be trusted,鈥� Ms. Gonz谩lez says.

Commentary along those lines is found across the city 鈥� and on social media. But it鈥檚 not just those seeking help who might be criticized. Mr. Banda and his wife, for example, have been working to get the needed permits to build scores of single-family homes for Haitians near their Evangelical church. A comment on the church鈥檚 Facebook page reprimands the pastor for this work when there are kids in the streets and so many 鈥減eople in misery鈥� across the country. 鈥淢exicans first,鈥� the commenter chides.

鈥淭hose out helping [Haitians here] are people who have helped or have wanted to help others in the past, but didn鈥檛 know how,鈥� Banda says. When he鈥檚 criticized for aiding Haitians at the expense of Mexicans or others in need, he says it鈥檚 people 鈥渟eeing what my right hand is doing, but not the left.鈥澨�

Gregory Bull/AP

Haitian women and children get ready to sleep on the floor of the Padre Chava migrant shelter in Tijuana, Mexico on Oct. 3, 2016. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Haitian men, women and children regularly spend the night just outside the busiest U.S. border crossing.

Powerful public impressions

Images of poverty and destruction from Haiti鈥檚 myriad earthquakes and public health crises over the past several decades no doubt accompany its citizens wherever they arrive, from Tijuana to Rio de Janeiro to Miami. But the way a refugee or migrant is treated doesn鈥檛 always come down to the situation he or she is fleeing. In 2015, certain nationalities, like Syrians and Iraqis, were allowed to migrate through the Balkans, while those deemed 鈥渆conomic migrants鈥� were turned away at the border.听Yet many of the countries those individuals were fleeing are not considered uniformly peaceful.

And outdated assumptions can influence public acceptance in other ways. In the United States, for instance, the conversation around migration tends to center on one specific group: Mexicans. Yet Mexican migration to the US has fallen in recent years, and , like Chinese and Indians.听

鈥淟abels and perceptions play a big role in how [migrants and refugees] are treated, not only by a community, but by a government,鈥� says Kevin Appleby, senior director of international migration policy at the Center for Migration Studies in New York.

Central Americans, for example, 鈥渁re often not perceived as refugees because they aren鈥檛 fleeing a declared war, or they鈥檙e fleeing 鈥榖ad guys,鈥� which feels more manageable,鈥� he says. As a result, they鈥檙e often seen as economic migrants in Mexico and the US, and the dangers they are fleeing become less important from the public's point of view. In Europe, meanwhile, Syrians and Iraqis seen as escaping war are often welcomed in a way that Afghans, who may also be fleeing violence but are more commonly labeled economic migrants, are not.

鈥淥ften the perception at the community level is that a refugee suffered something terrible and deserves a helping hand, and a migrant maybe is just there to take a piece of the pie,鈥� says Amali Tower, founder of the NGO Climate Refugees,听who previously worked with the United Nations鈥� refugee resettlement program.听

That makes who 鈥渃ounts鈥� as a refugee hugely consequential.听Often, it鈥檚 governments who set the national conversation about a certain group, or make decisions about which nationalities are more worthy of refuge or aid, even if officials don鈥檛 talk about refugee hierarchies in those blunt terms, says J. Olaf Kleist, a senior researcher at the Institute for Migration and Intercultural Studies at the University of Osnabr眉ck in Germany.

鈥淭here can be political interests on top of stereotypes,鈥� he says. Take Germany, for example, which has started听 who do not qualify as refugees, despite concerns about their safety upon their return. That could听be attributed to the fact that Germany is involved in the NATO mission in Afghanistan, Dr. Kleist says, and that by deeming Afghans unworthy of asylum, the country sends a message that Afghanistan 鈥渋s now a safe country.鈥�

Renewed awareness

But an increase in interest and attention toward one specific group of refugees or migrants doesn鈥檛 always mean long-term discrimination against others, Kleist notes.听

鈥淭he Syrian refugee movement really stirred something in German society that other groups haven鈥檛,鈥� he says.听鈥淏ut, after a couple of years, the people who started volunteering with Syrian refugees in mind got to know people from Afghanistan, East Africa,鈥� he says. The kind of discrimination about who belongs here 鈥渄isappeared once people got to know them. The differentiation between nationalities became much less.鈥�

Something similar may be happening in Tijuana, according to听V谩zquez, from Tijuana鈥檚 Strategic Committee for Humanitarian Aid. In recent months, the group鈥檚 Facebook page was increasingly filled with posts about not just Haitians, but Central American migrants, asylum-seekers from other backgrounds, and deportees.

V谩zquez听says she is motivated by this renewed awareness of the needs of all types of migrants and refugees, even amid ongoing concerns that Haitians could take local jobs or burden public services.听

鈥淚 tell them we can鈥檛 replicate the conversation going on in the US鈥� about immigrants, many of them Mexican,听she says.听鈥淭ijuana is a city of migrants. We need to help all groups in need.鈥�