Haitian connections in Tijuana: mobility, intersectionality and borders in Latin America

Author(s)

Domila do Prado Pazzini

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2023-06-26

Examining board members

Adriana Gracia Piscitelli; Natália Corazza Padovani; Handerson Joseph; José Miguel Nieto Olivar; Omar Ribeiro Thomaz

• Advisor: Adriana Gracia Piscitelli

Abstract

During the years 2016 and 2017, Tijuana started receiving a significant number of Haitians who arrived in the city intending to cross the border into the United States. "El camino" (path) is the term used to refer to the journey undertaken by land, crossing approximately ten countries in Latin America. Upon reaching the border, these Haitians in mobility encountered measures of migrant containment by the United States, such as "metering" and deportations, which increasingly made the practice of crossing the border more difficult, although the idea remained the same. As a result, they began to organize themselves to stay, even if temporarily, in Tijuana, adopting the term "Haitijuana" to refer to the Haitian community established in the city. This thesis aims to comprehend how these individuals, marked by race, gender, and nationality, move between various forms of borders and establish connections. These connections involve both the creation of support networks, aid, and solidarity, as well as the use of technological tools that enable the expansion and intensification of these networks. The focus of the research is on Haitians who undertook the "el camino" from Brazil and were living in Tijuana in the year 2018. The study seeks to analyze how Haitians in Tijuana construct strategies of survival and resistance in the face of the challenges imposed by borders, as well as explore the intersecting dynamics present in this context (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/00929-3 - From Brazil to Mexico: a study of transnational networks of help and affection of Haitian migrants in Tijuana
• Grantee: Domila do Prado Pazzini
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate