[ad_1]
The mayor of Tijuana strongly criticized the federal government of his country for failing to provide adequate assistance to the caravan of migrants and pledged not to bankrupt his city to take care of thousands of people. people now massed near the US border.
Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum on Thursday urged international groups such as the United Nations to step up their aid in response to more than 5,000 migrants who arrived in the city in the past two weeks in an attempt to reach the US border. Gastelum called the situation a humanitarian crisis and claimed that the Mexican federal government had not helped the city cope with the massive influx of migrants.
"They have categorically omitted and failed to comply with their legal obligations," he said at a press conference on Thanksgiving Day, Arizona Republic reported. "We are therefore asking them, as well as international humanitarian groups, to provide and deliver humanitarian assistance."
A MIGRANT CARAVAN FACING THE OPPOSITION OF RESIDENTS OF THE TIJUANA IN WRONG
At the same time, a small group of Central American migrants arrived Thursday at a border post to demand better living conditions in the shelters that harbor them.
The group of about 150 migrants carrying white flags bearing the indication "La Paz y Dios" or "Peace and God" separates from the largest caravan and approaches within 500 feet of American soil, announced Thursday the San Diego Union-Tribune.
They criticized the conditions in the shelters and said that they deserved better.
"There are sick children here and we are cold and hungry," said Carlos Lopez, a Honduran leader of the group. "The whole world is watching what is happening here."
The city authorities acknowledged that they were ill-equipped to cope with the increasing number of migrants arriving in the city.
The Republic of Arizona reported that the Tijuana municipal government estimated it spent nearly $ 27,000 a day to house and care for migrants.
"I will not compromise public services," Gastelum told reporters. "I will not spend the Tijuanans' money, nor will I go into debt with Tijuana, as we have not done in the last two years."
Migrants were urged to seek humanitarian visas in Mexico and to look for work in Tijuana, where officials said thousands of jobs were available.
The local state government has launched a job fair lasting a month earlier this week to try to fill vacancies, mainly in the manufacturing sector.
Francisco Iribe Paniagua, Secretary of State Labor of Baja California, told the Republic of Arizona earlier this week that the idea of the job fair had come after the success of a similar program two years ago, when Haitian migrants invaded the city.
"They had also come in for the purpose (to seek asylum in the United States), but the reality on the ground forced many of them to stay in Baja California," he said. declared to the newspaper. "This time we act faster, taking advantage of this experience."
President Trump on Friday asked lawmakers on both sides of the alley to unite to fight border security.
"Republicans and Democrats MUST finally unite to present a major package of security measures at the border, which will include funding for the wall," he wrote. "After 40 years of discussions, the moment has finally come to action. Repair the border, once and for all, NOW! "
On Thursday, while he was talking with reporters in Florida, Trump threatened to close the US border with Mexico for an undisclosed period if his administration decided that his southern ally had lost "control" of the situation.
Earlier in the day, Trump singled out Chief Justice John Roberts in a series of tweets, saying the courts should leave the task to his administration and enforcement of the border security law, because Judges "do not know anything about it and make our county dangerous."
"Our top law enforcement professionals must be allowed to do their job! Otherwise, there will be nothing but chaos, chaos, wounds and death. We want the Constitution to be written! He wrote.
On Monday, a federal judge suspended the asylum policy of the administration. Under this new policy, Trump said no one could apply for asylum except at an official point of entry at the border. Some ports of entry are already facing huge backups, people waiting weeks to be processed.
The US government processes only about 100 asylum applications per day at the main Tijuana border crossing to San Diego. Several thousand migrants were already on a waiting list.
Andrew O'Reilly, Travis Fedschun and Eddie DeMarche, Fox News, and Associated Press contributed to the writing of this report.
