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As of November 16, 2018, about 2,000 members of the migrant caravan lived in the Benito Juarez Sports Complex in Tijuana.
Palm Springs Desert Sun
Members of the first wave of the migrant caravan decided to travel to Playas De Tijuana after their arrival in Tijuana, Mexico on November 13, 2018. The group of 350 migrants traveled in 9 buses during the last part of the Travel from Hermosillo, Sonora. (Photo: Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun-USA NETWORK TODAY)
TIJUANA, Mexco – A group opposed to what they described as the "chaos" of the migrant caravan and another group of Central American supporters prepared to hold demonstrations in a Sunday duel in the city border of Tijuana.
About 2,400 members of a caravan made up of mainly Central American immigrants arrived in Tijuana last week and more than 1,000 in Mexicali are expected to visit the most western border town in Mexico. the next days.
The presence of migrants has already caused divisions in Tijuana, a city long regarded as welcoming to immigrants. Their arrival triggered a Wednesday evening confrontation with local residents, who asked migrants to leave a waterfront park near the border between California and Mexico and go to a shelter. And their presence sparked strong words from the mayor of the city, who, in an interview with Mexican media outlet Milenio, called the tramp migrants and told them that some smoked marijuana in the streets.
On Sunday morning, opponents of the presence of the caravan prepared to make their voices heard in the streets of Tijuana. According to an invitation from Facebook, participants planned to ask migrants not to participate in marches or demonstrations that lead to the closure of roads and not to confront immigration agents resulting in the closure of points of entry. ;Entrance.
About half a mile east, the counter-protesters staged a protest against what they termed "discrimination". The organizers of this event said that they would call to respect and dignity migrants fleeing poverty and violence, according to Facebook's invitation.
More: Tijuana reaches its reception capacity as the migrant caravan continues to flow into the border town
More: More than a thousand migrants waiting in Mexicali plan to travel to Tijuana by bus or on foot
Enrique Morones, founder of the San Diego-based Border Angels Immigrant Advocacy Group, has contrasted the derogatory words of Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum about the migrants presented by President Donald Trump, who call the caravan members criminals and "unknowns from the Middle East". Morones said the mayor's words had inflamed the city's passions.
"Hate speech is the source of hate," Morones told a press conference held Saturday at Playas de Tijuana, site of Wednesday night's confrontation between residents and migrants . "We saw him with the Trump administration, and now we see him with the mayor of Tijuana."
"We will not tolerate that," he said. "We know that Tijuana is a loving city."
Migrants, mostly from Honduras, are currently living in a sports complex in Tijuana, converted into a temporary shelter for migrants. On Saturday morning, people had made makeshift dormitories: thin mattresses and blankets of wool on an indoor basketball court, and under tents on patches of grass, in recesses under bleachers and away from the pitch. baseball. The shelter offered drinking water as well as showers and portable toilets, but people said that there was little food available.
More: Violence erupts at Tijuana border as migrant caravan arrives in an already overcrowded city
Many migrants said that they weighed their options. Some said they intend to look for work in Tijuana. Some said they wanted to seek asylum in the United States. Others said that they hoped – or the leader of another country – to provide them with a work permit.
Trump has been largely silent on the caravan of migrants heading to the border since it made it a major campaign issue in the midterm elections. But on Saturday night, he blew them up.
"Is not it ironic that large caravans of people are walking towards our border in search of American asylum because they are afraid of being in their country – yet they proudly wave the flag of their country. Can this be possible? Yes, because all this is a big problem and the American taxpayer pays the price! ", Did he declare.
More: United States: "Everything on the table" to block the caravan of migrants at the border
Dania Ester Medina Morales, 24, has joined the caravan to escape poverty and crime in Honduras. She said that she was planning to seek asylum in Mexico, but was scared after hearing about violence and corruption in the country. Now, she said that she was interested in continuing to Canada, where she heard that it is easier to get a work permit and a legal residency than to work in Canada. in the USA. Her goal is to do a decent job that will enable her to support her family in the port city of La Ceiba, she said.
"There are people who have been living in the United States for 30 years and have no legal status," Morales said. "I have friends who have been living in Canada for five years and they already have their residence."
The first big wave of caravan members arrived in Tijuana on Tuesday morning. But instead of dispersing in several shelters for migrants in the city, equipped to accommodate about 900 people, many migrants have chosen to sleep near the border fence Playas de Tijuana, which has angered residents. In response, officials opened the shelter Wednesday and began offering transportation to the facility that evening.
Government officials said they only had the funds to operate the facility for two weeks. They asked the federal government to contribute $ 4 million to this effort.
Rebecca Plevin covers immigration for The Desert Sun. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @rebeccaplevin.
Read or share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/11/18/protests-tijuana-migrant-caravan-sunday-donald-trump/2048/4818184002/
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