Migrants in Tijuana: housing is at least three times greater than its capacity



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More than 5,800 migrants have fled to the Benito Juarez Sports Complex, according to Mexico's Social Development Secretariat.

Rodolfo Olimpo, a representative of the Special Committee on Migration Issues of the State of Baja California, said Rodolfo Olimpo.

State and municipal authorities are seeking to open another shelter, said Olimpo, but they have not found any companies or local space ready to rent their facilities to migrants.

CNN teams who visited the Benito Juarez shelter discovered squalid conditions, including open drains. Many people seemed restless and nervous.

Inside the sports complex, which has become the main shelter for migrants in Tijuana, migrants wait for hours on long lines of food. The tents cover the sports fields and spread out of the doors of the facility.

Aerial view of the temporary shelter set up for migrants in Tijuana, with a visible part of the US-Mexico border fence.
Many migrants say they are waiting for the opportunity to seek asylum in the United States. Given the considerable backlog at the nearby port of entry, it may take weeks before they can cross the border and start arguing their case.

At the same time, the Mexican Red Cross provides medical badistance to the migrants accommodated in the shelter. The Mexican Navy has installed two small kitchens near the shelter, said Olimpo, and the federal government has installed two water treatment plants.

But Amnesty International said Monday that the shelter did not have enough resources for the migrants who lived there, describing the conditions as "unhealthy".

"Mexican officials at the federal, regional and municipal levels confirmed to Amnesty International that the temporary accommodation center did not have enough food, water and health services and that respiratory diseases were spreading. among those who stayed there, "said Amnesty.

Your questions about tear gas and border tensions have responded
The mayor of Tijuana described the situation as a crisis and called for humanitarian aid.

The growing number of migrants in Tijuana, a city of about 2 million inhabitants located in southern California, is "a big problem" that "we are not able to solve," said the Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum at CNN.

The Mexican federal government – with the upcoming appointment of a new president – or the United Nations must step in, said the mayor, to "shelter us, give them food, water, medicine, everything what a person needs worthy and have a place where they can remain dignified. "

US authorities defend the use of tear gas

Thousands of migrants from Central America have arrived in Tijuana in recent weeks. They were part of so-called caravans that crossed Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, mostly on foot, to reach the US border and ask for asylum.
A few days after the tension erupted and US officials fired tear gas at the border, the atmosphere in the mbadive Tijuana shelter was bleak Tuesday. Some migrants said they did not know what to do. A mother told CNN she was upset to see the tear gas fired suddenly when she thought it was a peaceful protest.

Immigrant rights advocates have criticized CBP officials for using tear gas, particularly among children. They claimed that the authorities had reacted excessively.

US authorities maintain that Sunday's violence by migrants who rushed to the border and threw stones left them no choice.

"The officers reacted with the least amount of force possible," said Rodney Scott, San Diego Area Chief of the US Department of Customs and Border Protection.

This is how tear gas affects children

He described what happened on Sunday as a "flash point" in a "very dynamic situation".

The agents tried to target the "instigators" who threw stones and bottles, but it was difficult to identify them among the large and moving crowd.

Scott noted that tear gas is an irritant that does not cause permanent damage. And agents could use it again if the violence broke out.

"We are not targeting women and children, and if women and children choose to interfere in a violent crowd attacking the police with stones and bottles, there will be unintended consequences. be badailed by stones and bottles and do not answer, "Scott said. "Pepper gas is an irritant, there is no permanent harm, but the easiest way to avoid it is to respect the law, to go to the port of entry and to to get online with everyone. "

Arrests and deportations

Sunday's troubles at the San Ysidro crossing have marked escalating tensions since groups of Central American migrants began arriving in Tijuana a few weeks ago as they were trying to enter in the USA.

The presence of migrants has drawn protesters – for and against them – and President Trump's threats to close the US-Mexico border.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Tyler Houlton said Tuesday that CBP arrested 42 people on Sunday for illegally crossing the border.

The majority of those arrested were adult men, Houlton said.

Migrants may have to wait 6 weeks at the border to ask for asylum, said one official

Tijuana police said they arrested 39 people on the Mexican side.

The Mexican Ministry of the Interior announced Monday that 98 migrants would be deported as a result of the incident.

The ministry's statement does not clearly indicate how many migrants were among those arrested on Sunday or when the deportations would take place.

Miguel Marquez and Leyla Santiago from CNN reported in Tijuana. Report by Catherine E. Shoichet from CNN from Washington. Susannah Cullinane, Emanuella Grinberg, CNN's Mariano Castillo, Flora Charner and Michelle Krupa contributed to this story.

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