[ad_1]
TIJUANA, Mexico – Hundreds of Tijuana residents gathered Sunday around a monument in an affluent part of the city in southern California to protest the thousands of caravans arriving from Central America in the hope of a new life in the United States.
The tension has settled as nearly 3,000 caravan migrants have flocked to Tijuana in recent days, after more than a month 's drive and several months before they apply for asylum. The federal government estimates that the number of migrants could soon increase to 10,000.
US border inspectors handle about 100 asylum applications a day at the main Tijuana border crossing to San Diego. Asylum seekers record their names on a ragged notebook run by migrants themselves, which numbered more than 3,000 names even before the arrival of the caravan.
On Sunday, disgruntled Tijuana residents waved Mexican flags, sang the Mexican national anthem and chanted "Out! Outside! In front of a statue of Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc, 1.6 km from the US border. They accused the migrants of being disorganized, ungrateful and constituting a danger for Tijuana. They also complained about how the caravan forcibly entered Mexico, calling it an "invasion". They also expressed fear that their taxes would be used to take care of the group.
"We do not want them in Tijuana," protesters shouted.
A woman who called Paloma criticized the migrants who she said came to Mexico in search of documents. "Let their government take care of them," she told reporters covering the protests.
Most of the migrants who reached Tijuana by caravan in recent days left Honduras more than a month ago from Honduras, a country of 9 million inhabitants. Dozens of migrants in the caravan who were interviewed by Associated Press reporters said they left their country after receiving death threats.
But the trip was difficult and many returned.
Alden Rivera, Honduras' ambassador to Mexico, told AP on Saturday that 1,800 Hondurans have returned to their country since the launch of the caravan on Oct. 13, and that he hopes others people will make that decision. "We want them to come back to Honduras," Rivera said.
Honduras has a murder rate of 43 per 100,000, similar to that of American cities like New Orleans and Detroit. In addition to violence, migrants in the caravan mentioned the poor economic outlook as a motivating factor for their departure. Per capita income is around $ 120 a month in Honduras, where, according to the World Bank, two out of three people live in poverty.
The long stay planned by migrants in Tijuana has raised concerns about the ability of the border city of more than 1.6 million people to manage this influx.
While many people in Tijuana are sensitive to the plight of migrants and are trying to help them, some local people have shouted insults, thrown stones and even punched them. The cold welcome contrasts sharply with the warmth that accompanied the migrants to southern Mexico, where the inhabitants of small towns welcomed them with hot food, campsites and even live music.
The mayor of Tijuana, Juan Manuel Gastelum, described the arrival of migrants as "avalanche" that the city is poorly prepared to handle. They calculated that they would stay in Tijuana for at least six months while waiting for asylum applications. Gastelum appealed to the federal government to receive more help to cope with this influx.
The Mexican Ministry of Interior said Saturday that the federal government was transporting food and blankets for migrants to Tijuana.
Tijuana officials converted a municipal gymnasium and recreation complex into a shelter to prevent migrants from accessing public spaces. The private shelters in the city have a maximum capacity of 700 people. The municipal complex can accommodate up to 3,000 people.
Some members of the caravan headed to other border towns, such as Mexicali, a few hours east of Tijuana.
US President Donald Trump, who wanted to make the caravan a campaign issue in the midterm elections, used Twitter Sunday to express his support for the mayor of Tijuana and try to discourage migrants from seeking to enter the United States .
Trump wrote that, like Tijuana, "the United States is ill prepared for this invasion and will not tolerate it. They cause crimes and big problems in Mexico. Go home!"
He followed this tweet by writing: "Catch and Release is an obsolete term. It's now Catch and Detain. Illegal immigrants attempting to enter the United States, often proudly displaying the flag of their country when they seek asylum in the United States, will be arrested or refused. "
___
Associated Press reporter Julie Watson contributed to this Tijuana story.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
[ad_2]Source link
