TIJUANA, MEXICO—The Mayor of Tijuana, Mexico, Juan Manuel Gastelum declared a humanitarian crisis as an influx of Central American immigrants arrived in the city.
With over 5,000 immigrants pouring into Tijuana and more arriving each day, Gastelum said, “We don’t have sufficient and necessary infrastructure to adequately to attend to these people, to give them a decent space.”
Gastelum indicated that people would come out and give migrants necessities. The caravan only stopping along the way for a day or two with the exception of Mexico City and Tijuana. “Even the cities with few resources made sure that the migrants had food and a place to rest,” said Gastelum.
Mayor Gastelum criticized the federal government of Mexico for their lack of response to the overcrowding. On Thursday, November 22, he asked for aid from the United Nations Office For The Coordination Of Human Affairs.
“I am not going to spend Tijuana citizens tax dollars on this crisis,” Gastelum stated to Fox News.
In Tijuana, many of the migrants are fleeing violence and poverty in their homeland and seeking asylum in the United States. It could take months for the United States to process the migrants who have arrived. The migrants will stay in Tijuana until they are screened.
Gastelum indicated on November 23, that the Mexican government promised 20 tons of aid to the region, a vast majority of those materials are to help build the wall. Only about one third of the supplies will go to migrants, who are staying at a local sports complex that has received donations from the community and various churches, and a variety of agencies from Baja, California.
Overcrowding at the border has cause violence to erupt, after a Mexican citizen was beaten after attempting to climb the fence at the border.
President Donald Trump deployed 6,000 troops to the border with permission to use lethal force in extreme acts of violence. Trump was criticized for his stance on the migrant caravan headed towards the U. S. border, which he has threatened to close.
“Migrants at the southern border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We will only allow those who enter our country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No releasing into the U.S.,” tweeted President Trump.
