Tijuana Residents Clash With Central American Migrants: ‘Get Out!’

Tijuana residents said they want the Central American migrants who have arrived in the city to leave, as thousands more migrants head to the area to try to cross into the United States.

The main migrant caravan, with an estimated 6,500 people, is headed to Tijuana. Some of the caravan members are already beginning to reach the city, causing unrest among the locals.

They formed a protest, saying there were already too many migrants there, urging them to leave.

During the confrontation late on Nov. 14, which lasted more than three hours, area residents sang Mexico’s national anthem and waved Mexican flags, reported the Palm Springs Desert Sun. They also shouted “You’re not welcome,” and, “Get out!”

Pushing, shoving, kicking, and a couple of heavy blows broke out between the residents and the migrants, with more than 36 police officers at the scene trying to handle the situation.

“This is not an appropriate place for them,” one local resident said. “There are appropriate places for them.”

“This isn’t about discrimination, it is about safety!” another added.

Central American migrants look on along the border structure, in Tijuana, Mexico on Nov. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Hundreds Arrive in Tijuana, Thousands on Their Way

The protests came after an estimated 750 migrants got off buses in Tijuana on Nov. 14. Some went to shelters but others spent the night in a makeshift camp by the Pacific Ocean, just steps from the border fence that separates Mexico and the United States.

The bulk of the main caravan appeared to be about 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) from the border but has recently been moving hundreds of miles a day by hitching rides on trucks and buses.

Many of the new arrivals were waiting in Tijuana for the caravan leaders to arrive and provide guidance on their immigration options to the United States, including seeking asylum. Some said they might cross illegally.

Less than one percent of Mexico’s population is foreign-born, Javier Urbano, a professor at the Iberoamerican University who studies immigration, told USA Today. He said the debate on immigration in the country “is just beginning”

Meanwhile, 34 percent of respondents to a recent survey said that the Mexican government should “not help and pressure to return them to their countries.”

Migrants traveling with a caravan hoping to reach the United States wait in line to board buses in La Concha, Mexico, on Nov. 14, 2018. The bulk of the main caravan appeared to be about 1,100 miles from the border, but was moving hundreds of miles per day. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Plans to Rush Border

Migrants said that by and large, Mexicans had been kind to them, even though most have rejected the country’s offer of asylum, which included jobs, education, and healthcare.

“Mexico has been excellent; we have no complaint about Mexico. The United States remains to be seen,” said Josue Vargas, a migrant from Honduras.

Henry Salinas, 30, of Honduras, said that he planned to wait for the main caravan so that the group could rush the border fence at the same time, overwhelming Border Patrol agents. Up to 10,000 migrants are traveling toward the border in three caravans. Under President Donald Trump’s recent directive, migrants who don’t enter through a port of entry aren’t eligible for asylum.

“It’s going to be all against one, one against all. All of Central America against one, and one against Central America. ... All against Trump, and Trump against all,” Salinas said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

From NTD News