Shelter in Mexico Uses Social Media to Lend Hand to US-Bound Migrants Agence France-Presse
go to original March 30, 2015

Mexico Smartphone App Lowers Crime: Free and popular, in 2013 it was the 10th most uploaded application in a country where, according to a national watchdog organization, less than three percent of the population trusts the police. (AlJazeeraEnglish)

A migrant shelter outside Mexico City collects donations of clothes thanks to a smartphone app. Online reviews warn migrants about abusive employers. A website pinpoints US police checkpoints.

Websites, social media and the proliferation of mobile technology are increasingly giving Central American and Mexican migrants a helping hand in their journey to the United States.

...In 2013, there were over 70 million mobile phones users in Mexico, according to IAB Mexico, an advertising firm that studies mobile data. In just two years, that number increased by 10 million users.

IAB further estimated that 65.5 percent of Mexico's population of roughly 120 million people owns a mobile phone.

"We saw great potential in using these social media tools to spread the relief effort and bring together people to help migrants," said Via Migrante founder Nora Hinojo.

With thousands of Facebook and Twitter followers, Via Migrante advertises donation drives throughout Mexico City, using hashtags like #migrantes and #HRD (human rights defenders).

The group also tweets for backpacks, which are filled with the donations for the traveling migrants.

In the United States, the website ("spread the word") lets people call in information about police checkpoints throughout the country. The locations are pinned on online maps.

A migrant who was detained by the US Border Patrol created the Spanish and English app Derechos Herencia, which offers other migrants information about their legal rights.

The US group Migrahack has launched projects that chronicle deaths at the border, show maps of Mexican shelters and tell stories of the death-defying trip on top of "The Beast."

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