Migrant caravan faces opposition from angry Tijuana residents
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
In blunt contrast to the warm reception thousands of migrants received as they made the arduous journey through Central America to Mexico – getting food donations and well wishes from locals – the nearly 3,000 people who reached the Mexican border with California in recent days have been met with marked hostility .
The majority of migrants, who have been on foot for more than a month, are sleeping on a dirt baseball field at an outdoor sports complex in Tijuana by the newly-fortified barbed wire fence that separates Mexico from the United States. A truck parked on the street is providing showers for women, while the men are told to use newly established outdoor showers near the field.
Reports of insults being shouted, rocks being hurled and even physical fist-fighting has escalated over the weekend.
The reception has left many in limbo – afraid to return to their homeland, which for the vast majority is Honduras, yet unwelcome in Mexico and uncertain if their U.S. asylum requests will be granted. The U.S is said to be processing around 100 claims per day.
Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum has referred to the arrivals as “bums” and questioned whether a referendum in the city of 1.6 million is needed to determine whether or not they should be allowed to stay.
“Human rights should be reserved for righteous humans,” Gastelum lamented last week.
The Mexican Interior Ministry announced Friday that just under 2,700 Central American migrants have applied for asylum in Mexico under a program that was launched late last month that pledged to provide them with work and living permissions faster.
Yet officials anticipate that the migrant caravan will soon swell in excess of 10,000 – and will need to be housed for more than six months – which the Mexican government claims it lacks the resources to do.
Despite a lull in covering the issue post-midterms, President Trump again expressed his grievances at the new arrivals in a tweet on Friday.
“Isn’t it ironic that large caravans of people are marching to our border wanting U.S.A. asylum because they are fearful of being in their country – yet they are proudly waving their country’s flag,” he wrote. “Can this be possible? Yes, because it is all a BIG CON, and the American taxpayer is paying for it.”
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The mayor of Tijuana claims that the migrants are unrighteous humans and has asked the Mexican government for $4 million for security so he can protect his city's citizens. The citizens of Tijuana also don't want the foreign migrants in their city. Are all of these "brown skinned Mexicans" racist, too?
What, exactly, is the 'BIG CON' again? Are they not really there? Are they really just wealthy Democrats looking for a hand out? Are they really Yemeni terrorists who just speak really good Spanish?
The media has reported for weeks that the majority in the caravans are actually economic migrants, not "asylum seekers". That's the "CON" Trump and others are referring to.
If the people in the caravans were truly seeking asylum, they would have sought it as soon as they arrived in Mexico. And, they wouldn't be waving the flags of the countries that have "oppressed" them.
and letting them in will improve our society?
Since they're still proudly waving the flags of their "oppressors", I don't foresee them being of any benefit to the USA.
Even Mexican citizens of Tijuana call the caravans an invasion.
From BBC:
From DW English (German public broadcast). Notice that "Miriam", the first woman interviewed, criticizes the food quality that Tijuana gives them:
Mayor: make tijuana great again... LOL
So, Mexico has a few throwback knownothing nationalist xenophobics, too...
Tijuana has 1.3 million residents. A couple hundred misfits protested today.
So to you, Mexican citizens who want to protect the sovereignty and safety of their own city and nation are throwbacks, xenophobes, and misfits, JBB? Wow ... just wow!
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No, just pointing out that Mexico overall supports the refugees and that the few angry anti-refugee protesters in Tijuana are mere aberrations. BTW, I am not the topic. You should not infer ill motives to those you do not know...
You introduce as fact evidence that is not backed up
even the mayor of Tijuana called them invaders and criminals
Prove it, and this time, use facts from reliable sources. I do give you lots of credit for having a very lively imagination on this topic and others, though!