'We made it': Haitians learn from experience to reach Mexico's Tijuana

FILE PHOTO: Haitian migrants talk after washing their clothes at an Evangelical Church, being used as a shelter for stranded immigrants on their way to the U.S., in Tijuana, Mexico, February 12, 2017. Picture taken February 12, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes

TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - While thousands of Haitians were detained, deported or expelled from a camp on Mexico's frontier with Texas last week, many others traveled west to the border city of Tijuana, hoping to avoid a crackdown aimed at stemming the rising tide of migrants.

Evading detection, paying thousands of dollars, and shunning popular routes, those coming to Tijuana have drawn on the help of fellow Haitians who reached the doorstep of the United States five years ago during another spike in migration.