VIDEO. United States / Mexico border: with LGBTQ+ migrants

Nearly 50,000 migrants are said to be living in refuges on the Mexican border. And nearly 2 million migrants deported from the United States between 2020 and 2022. Irving founded Casa de Luz in Tijuana, Mexico in 2018 to provide a home and place of safety for LGBTQ+ refugees. “They can stay as long as they need to resolve their situation” explains the founder. Every day, Irving sees migrants from Colombia, Cuba, Brazil…”La Casa de Luz does not work with the government or with the immigration services or with any American organization, it is independent” says Gustavo Balderrama, psychologist of the home.

“These people have gone through traumatic experiences, not only in their migratory journey, but also in their personal lives, before arriving in Mexico. These events make them vulnerable. So when they arrive here, they expect the worst, they are afraid of being mistreated. When they realize this is not the case, they begin to bond more intimately with each other. And it becomes a community, a cohabitation that goes very well, with a lot of intimacy and love” adds the psychologist. Lili, Shakira, Jonathan, discover the personal journeys of certain inhabitants of Casa de Luz.