Officials from U.S. and Canada Visit Migrant Worker Center

The Migrant Workers Resource Center in Tijuana helps migrant workers learn about their rights at work. In April 2024, important people from the United States and Canada visited the center to see how it works. The union SUCOMM runs the center. 

More and More Workers Getting Help

When the center first opened in 2022, it helped 372 migrant workers that year. But in 2023, the number went up to 1,280 workers from 32 different countries getting help. The big increase shows many workers need these services.

Unions Are Important

The group International Labour Organization (ILO), which supports the center, says unions are very important for helping migrant workers. Sol Merino from SUCOMM said they want to open more centers in areas with many migrants, like Tapachula and Ciudad Juarez. But they need more people working and more training to grow.  

Migrant Worker Is Happy With Help

A migrant worker from Colombia named Angie Wilches shared her good experience at the center. She sews school uniforms at a factory. Wilches said, “My time at the center was very good. Everything happened fast; I didn’t think it could be so easy.” She got useful information about work laws and fixing her immigration papers.

Working With Other Groups

The center works together with local groups that help migrants, the labor department, and the refugee commission. This creates a strong network to send migrants to different services they need. The government visitors saw this network working during their visit.  

The visitors met with representatives from the countries with the most migrants – El Salvador, Guatemala, and Haiti. They talked about how important the center’s help is for their citizens working in Tijuana.

Seeing the Factory Too

To understand the employer side, the visitors also went to the Panasonic factory in Tijuana. The company could explain what it’s like to have migrant workers.

The visitors included important people from the U.S. Department of Labor, State Department, Embassy in Mexico, and Consulate in Tijuana as well as the Canadian Embassy in Mexico. The Baja California Labor Secretary also came.