Mexicans taking of their own for a change.
Tijuana’s newest draft beer is called Migrante, and supplies of the light-bodied IPA with a hint of citrus have been running out fast.
Produced by Cervecería Insurgente, the beer is being sold as a fundraiser for Tijuana’s sizable population of deportees, many of whom have struggled to adjust to life back in Mexico after years of living in the United States.
“The whole point is to spread awareness,” said Iván Morales, co-founder with his brother Damian of the eight-year-old Insurgente craft brewery. “Migration is such an essential part of what Tijuana is, and what the people of Tijuana are.”
Insurgente released Migrante on March 1, selling the beer at its tap room at Tijuana’s Plaza Fiesta, and through nine fellow breweries that are supporting the effort.
“There were several places that ran out of that keg on the first day,” Morales said. “It was very satisfying to see people respond.”
Migrante beer is part of Insurgente’s larger vision aimed at supporting events that “promote conversation or a dialogue about migration,” Morales said. “We want to start this conversation, especially given the political climate between Mexico and the U.S.,” he said. “The beer is just the first phase of this project.”
One of the two beneficiaries is a documentary project that has focused on the plight of homeless deportees. Sociologist Juan Antonio del Monte has been working with Mexico City-based filmmakers to portray the daily lives of a group living near the U.S. border fence in Cañon del Matadero.
“The idea is to bring visibility to this issue that many times is invisible on the streets of Tijuana,” del Monte said. “Everybody knows it exists, but nobody talks about it.”
The other group to benefit is Fundación Gaia, a non-profit organization that works with homeless deportees through a project known as Proyecto Albo. In May, the group is preparing to open a center near the border to orient newly arrived deportees.
Founder Darinka Carballo said the aim is to open a job bank that could find them employment so they don’t end up without support.
“Our proposal is to prevent these people from becoming part of the homeless population living on the streets of Tijuana,” she said.