While many Mexican locals in the border city of Tijuana have given the Central American migrant caravan a warm reception, a growing number of frustrated residents have taken to the streets in protest.
Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum is speculating holding a referendum in the city to decide if the thousands who have reached the Mexican border with California recently should be allowed to stay as reports grew of angry residents shouting insults and throwing rocks at the migrants with some engaging in fist-fights as well, Fox News reported.
U.S. journalist Emily Green shared videos online of protesters marching toward a makeshift shelter on Sunday where about 2,000 Central Americans are staying, planning to “kick them out.”
Anti migrant protestors in Tijuana headed to shelter where 2,000-plus Central America. migrants are taking refuge to “kick them out.” pic.twitter.com/iYURtdFlZN
— Emily Green (@emilytgreen) November 18, 2018
Police reportedly secured the shelter and kept the protesting residents from breaching the space.
Anti-migrant protesters in Tijuana have now reached a police blockade and are surrounded by members of the media. #caravan pic.twitter.com/gK40SJgAFo
— Maya Averbuch (@mayaaverbuch) November 18, 2018
Tensions have continued to escalate in the city as the caravan, which was attempting to reach the U.S border to claim asylum, has reached Tijuana where many of the migrants have been sleeping on a dirt baseball field at an outdoor sports complex, Fox News reported. Nearby is a barbed wire fence separating Mexico from the United States.
Approximately 2,700 Central American migrants have applied for asylum in Mexico as officials believe the numbers will soon rise to about 10,000 with many needing to be sheltered for more than six months, according to Fox News. And despite an offer last month by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to provide the migrants temporary identification and work permits as well as medical care and housing, the government now admits it lacks the resources to provide housing for the thousands pouring in.
“These are our people, we want to do what we can for them,” Alden Rivera, the Honduran ambassador in Mexico, told reporters on Saturday while visiting the sports complex. “In Honduras, we respect human rights.”
President Trump took to Twitter to respond, echoing Gastelum’s remarks that Tijuana could not handle the influx of migrants and telling them to “Go home!”
The Mayor of Tijuana, Mexico, just stated that “the City is ill-prepared to handle this many migrants, the backlog could last 6 months.” Likewise, the U.S. is ill-prepared for this invasion, and will not stand for it. They are causing crime and big problems in Mexico. Go home!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2018
Ahead of the weekend, Trump expressed his anger over the “BIG CON” of migrants seeking U.S. asylum because of fears of living in their own country.
Isn’t it ironic that large Caravans of people are marching to our border wanting U.S.A. asylum because they are fearful of being in their country – yet they are proudly waving….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2018
….their country’s flag. Can this be possible? Yes, because it is all a BIG CON, and the American taxpayer is paying for it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2018
Many local groups have been welcoming the caravan in Tijuana however, donating food and clothing even as their fellow residents are protesting the hundreds pouring in each day and Border Patrol officers are out in full force.
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