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Taxi drivers at the border struggling during the pandemic

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TAXI in Ljubljana, Slovenia
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May 13, 2020 5:10 PM
Published 11:45 AM

CALEXICO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) -The U.S. Mexico border is usually busy with travelers, street vendors, and taxi drivers.

For Miguel Hernandez a taxi driver on the border he says he makes 10-15 percent of what he used too.

“We work because we have to work it’s necessary to work for the bills, to survive we don’t make a lot of money but what we make is to sustain the family,” said Miguel Hernandez, a Taxi driver.

Taxi driver Alejandro Lopez says that the border restrictions and the closure of Calexico businesses is what really affected their income.

“For the first three weeks the business was really slow and we were battling just to pay our rent and bills.”

For many taxi drivers, they are having to work double what they used to just to make ends meet.

“I work more hours just to compensate for the time and make a little bit more money.”

Many taxi drivers are also making sure they themselves are protected from the virus.

“If someone tries to come in the taxi without a mouth covering we don’t let them in," Hector Jacob, Taxi Driver.

For these drivers, their financial needs are bigger than their fear of the virus.

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Gianella Ghiglino

Peruvian-born and LA raised Gianella Ghiglino joins the team from the San Fernando valley. “LA is the place that taught me how to breath and Peru is my breath.” She says she was inspired by the community she grew up in and began documenting her experience through poetry at the age of 7. “I wrote about everything I saw, felt and everything that inspired me.” When she entered High School she joined her school news station and realized that broadcast journalism allowed her to pursue her passion and her purpose all at once. Gianella attended Cal State Northridge and received a Bachelors degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Spanish Broadcast Journalism, and Political Science. She did several internships while in College but most notably interned for PBS’s local LA station for three years. “My purpose is to share my story and of those in my community, my passion is writing.”

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