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(TIJUANA, Mexico) – As Mexico struggles with more than 5,000 Central American migrants camped in a sports complex in the border town of Tijuana, the government of elected President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced Tuesday that he would be ready to house migrants on Mexican soil while they seek asylum in the United States – a key demand from US President Donald Trump.
Mexico's new foreign minister also urged the Trump administration to contribute to development projects aimed at creating jobs in Central America to stem the flow of migrants from this impoverished region, suggesting that an appropriate figure would begin at $ 20 billion.
"We can not determine how quickly people are interrogated" by US officials as part of the asylum process, said new External Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard during a press conference in Mexico. In the United States, border inspectors handle less than 100 asylum claims per day at the main Tijuana border crossing to San Diego, creating a backlog of several thousand people.
"So what should we do?" Ebrard asked. "Prepare to badume that a good deal of them will be in this region of Mexico in the coming months."
"We must help local authorities" to house and feed migrants, he said, adding, "This is not a bilateral negotiation. It's something we have to do. "
Lopez Obrador, who won the overwhelming election victory of July 1 and takes office on Saturday, built his political career on the defense of the poor. He is now faced with the difficult task of placating Trump on the issue of migrants while maintaining Mexico's long-standing position to demand better treatment of migrants.
Ebrard told reporters Tuesday that one of the administration's key objectives was to secure a US commitment to development projects in Honduras, where the vast majority of migrants in the caravan, as well as neighboring countries, Guatemala, El Salvador and elsewhere in Central America.
"What are we negotiating with the United States? We want them to participate in the project I just mentioned "to create jobs in Central America. When asked what the US contribution should be, Ebrard suggested that this figure be at least $ 20 billion.
"Mexico alone will invest in our territory at the next administration, more than $ 20 billion, so any serious effort on our brothers in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala should be on a similar amount." said Ebrard.
Ebrard's statements came as people in Tijuana, worried, had closed a school adjacent to a sports complex where thousands of migrants had been camped for two weeks.
The move came after US border agents fired tear gas at Mexico to fire a group of migrants who had crossed the border over the weekend. The incident prompted Mexican authorities to strengthen the presence of police around the shelter.
Citing fears for the safety of their children, the parents' badociation of Gabriel Ramos Elementary School in Milan bought its own lock and closed the doors of the school. A sign said that the school would remain closed until further notice.
Carmen Rodriguez said the parents were asking the authorities to do something since the migrants' arrival, adding that her 9-year-old daughter would not return to school before leaving.
"We ask that they be resettled," said Rodriguez, noting that some migrants had contacted the school yard to ask the children for money and use the school washroom. Some even smoked marijuana around its peripheral walls, she said.
She added that parents are worried about the new convergence of anti-migrant protesters on the sports complex, as they did last week. "If they come here and there is a confrontation, we will be caught in the middle," she said.
Migrants themselves were urgently exploring their options as they increasingly felt they would have little hope of successfully applying for asylum in the United States or crossing the border illegally. .
Most were discouraged after US agents fired tear gas at the group of migrants attempting to travel to the United States on Sunday. According to them, the confrontation and the official reaction undermined their chances of reaching the US National Institute of Migration in Mexico, which reported that 98 migrants were being deported after attempting to cross the border. the US border. The country's interior ministry said about 500 people had tried to cross the border, while the US authorities had 1,000.
There was a regular queue Tuesday in front of a tent housing the International Organization for Migration, where officials were offering badistance to those wishing to return to their home country.
Officials also reported more interest from migrants wishing to begin the process of staying in Mexico. An employment fair matching migrants and outlets in Baja California has seen an increasing number of inquiries.
"What happened yesterday is hurting us all," said Oscar Leonel Mina, a 22-year-old father from San Salvador, about the conflict at the border on Sunday.
Mina, his wife and their young daughter avoided the protest and were happy to have done so after hearing others tell what had happened, he said.
Events led Mina to rethink her family's plan to travel to the United States. He says he heard people talking about Rosarito, a seaside town popular with American tourists about 40 minutes drive south of Tijuana.
"You can earn money and live well" if you are ready to work, he said. He set himself the goal of trying to get his family out of the sports stadium within a week.
Mexican security forces have stepped up their presence at the sports complex, apparently seeking to avoid a repeat of Sunday's ugly scene.
The Secretary of Public Security of Tijuana, Marco Antonio Sotomayor Amezcua, said at a press conference that the Mexican police would be cautious in its use of force, but that we must make sure that the border posts are not closed again.
Sotomayor said he hoped that migrants who had considered entering the United States had illegally learned of Sunday's events that it would be impossible.
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