Migrants met with fear and disdain in Tijuana, Mexico

TIJUANA, Mexico – In 2016, when 3,000 Haitians who fled Hurricane Matthew were stranded in Tijuana without legal authorization in the north, locals and leaders offered housing, clothing and jobs.

"It's something that people in Tijuana proudly quote," said Everard Meade, director of the Trans Border Institute at the University of San Diego. He sums up Tijuana's response: "The United States could not do anything for them, but we did it."

Mexico has long been a welcoming hub of the Americas with Tijuana, its northern lighthouse. But this time, with about 10,000 Central American migrants seeking to cross the US border, goodwill is fading and hostility has increased.

The mayor of Tijuana, Juan Manuel Gastelum, complained bitterly of this influx of tourists, local media asked who organized the caravan and social media spread information about drug use in Central America.

"Human rights should be reserved for the just human," said Gastelum last week.

Like many places in the world, Tijuana has been seduced by the kind of neo-nationalism adopted by President Trump, and some political leaders are quite willing to make it one, Meade said.

"Trump has infected the mayor of Tijuana," said Enrique Morones, founder of Border Angels, a pro-migrant group with members in the United States and Mexico.

On Wednesday, residents of the upper middle class Playas de Tijuana neighborhood, where migrants live, clashed physically with some of the newcomers.

"There are many expressions of xenophobia against them," said Victor Clark-Alfaro, a professor of Latin American studies at San Diego State University, who lives in Tijuana. "There is a division in our society because there are more people than residents want to be here. "

The protesters planned to gather Sunday in front of the monument dedicated to the Aztec ruler Cuauhtémoc, located in the shopping and nightlife district of the city of Zona Rio, against about 2,600 migrants in Tijuana.

At a press conference Saturday outside Border Angels' Playas de Tijuana Migrant Shelter, Sara Gurling, president-emeritus of the group, described the mayor's mayor as very dangerous about human rights.

"People of good conscience must call on the mayor to stop these words," she said. "He calls the worst of man to stand against the most vulnerable."

But the mayor has found a problem that resonates. He made headlines in the United States, where the conservative daily Daily Caller noted that Gastelum portrays Central American migrants as an unwelcome horde.

Santiago Alvarado, 29, watched the press conference in favor of migrants with skepticism.

"People are afraid to come here," he said, pacing up and down a beach divided by landmarks that mark the border. Alvarado said the caravan was filled with MS-13 gang members, a claim denied by those traveling with the migrants. "They have a lot of mara salvatruchas."

He echoed another claim among the migrants' critics in Tijuana: "They are not grateful for what people have done for them."

"This country does not belong to you," he said.

Meade, from the University of San Diego, said that while some local and local governments may not have the resources to help migrants, it would not likely be a humanitarian crisis in Tijuana, as some had predicted.

He added that there were thousands of job opportunities, especially in the manufacturing and construction sectors, in Tijuana, a metropolitan area with up to 2 million people. ;inhabitants.

"Everyone can work in Tijuana right now," he said.

Some in Playas de Tijuana are unhappy that the caravan has inspired Trump to harden the border crossing by closing lanes at the Southwest ports of entry, making life miserable for about 30,000 Tijuana residents working in the States. -United.

"I was born and raised in Tijuana," said 47-year-old resident Marco-Antonio Gonzalez, who said his two sons lived in the United States as citizens. "The way this [caravan] was done was disrespectful. They cause problems. We do not know who they are. "

He said he saw migrants throw unwanted food and get rid of donated clothes that were not branded.

"You must be humble," said Gonzalez.

But 83-year-old Honduran Freddy Mendez said he only came to Tijuana to go to the other side. He stressed that he was grateful even though he was facing "a lot of criticism".

"Yo soy muy agradecido, "He said -" I am very grateful. "

While migrants were pitching tents in a local sports park and others were staying in churches and half a dozen shelters in the area, the head of the Angels Frontier in Tijuana, Hugo Castro, said: there is a climate of fear. "

Travelers have been walking for weeks, sometimes 12 hours or more a day, he added, which could mean that they do not seem enthusiastic.

"They are very tired," Castro said.

On the beach, families were frolic in the water. The autumn sun was brighter than chrome. A mariscos seal whistled a cumbia version of "Oye Como Va" from the son of Carlos Santana, his native son, on a loudspeaker.

While she was kneeling in the sand to help a newcomer translate the documents, Audra Farias, a resident of Tijuana, complained, "It's too busy."

The person she was helping was Leonel Lagos, a 23-year-old Honduran, who was carrying photocopies of photos of his torn house, destroyed by gangsters trying to shake him up. He hoped to seek asylum in the United States.

When asked if it was true that the migrants were taking drugs and displaying an ungrateful attitude, Lagos, who seemed exhausted, sprawled on the beach, surrounded by the curious, shrugged.

"I just arrived," he said.

According to the experts, it is unlikely that migrants will get asylum, but those who go to the border crossing will be greeted by a sculpture inspired by the sculpture of Robert Indiana LOVE of Philadelphia. He reads TJTQ, for Tijuana Loves You.