TIJUANA (NEWS 8) — Nearly 3,000 migrants are currently living in the Tijuana, Mexico, and thousands more are expected to arrive in the coming days.
On Sunday, Tijuana residents gathered around a monument to express their concerns, many calling it an "invasion."
Part of Friendship Park, on the U.S. side of the border near the shoreline, has been closed since an incident Thursday night in which people on the Mexican side allegedly threw rocks at American officials including the Border Patrol San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent, Rodney Scott.
"Due to unrest in this location, the area known as Friendship Circle has been closed to visitors until further notice," Border Patrol spokesman Ralph DeSio told one San Diego news station.
The protesters came together for the rally, some chanting, some carrying the Mexican flag.
"This is not immigration, this is an invasion,” one woman yelled.
Sunday’s protest is the latest in a string of incidents involving backlash against the migrant caravan since it arrived in Tijuana this week.
"The hype that is being created by a handful of people is very dangerous because hate words lead to hate actions. We have seen it here,” said Enrique Morones, the executive director of Border Angels - an immigration advocacy group based in San Diego.
"The overwhelming majority of people in Tijuana have welcomed the migrants and treated them with dignity and respect,” said Morones.
Sunday morning President Trump tweeted about the mayor of Tijuana, saying the city was ill prepared to handle this many migrants and the backlog could last six months. And that the caravan should “go home.”
"What we're so disappointed in is the mayor of Tijuana, Juan Manuel Gastelum – now they call him Juan Manuel Trump Junior Gastelum - because he's using the same phrases as Trump. That it's a safety issue,” said Morones.
As of Sunday, there were already more than 2,000 migrants in Tijuana and thousands more on the way.
The bulk of the caravan arrived late Thursday, and city officials in Tijuana opened a gymnasium to potentially house up to 3,000 people. City shelters are only able to house 700 people. More than 1,000 more caravan members were in Mexicali and were expected to travel to Tijuana in the coming days. Tensions between residents and migrants boiled over Thursday night, with USA Today reporting
that Tijuana police separated the groups after spurts of shoving and thrown punches. Tijuana residents reportedly wanted the migrants to go to shelters rather than the public spaces they occupied. Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum said Friday that the city isn't in a position to handle the influx of people, which could reach 10,000 according to estimates from the Mexican government. The caravan members were expected to be in Tijuana for at least six months and possibly as long as a year and a half, Baja California Secretary-General Francisco Rueda Gomez said at a Tijuana City Hall meeting Friday.
"We do tell them the dangers that exist, we do tell them the realities that maybe and most likely they won't get asylum, and what is actually taking place in the region since we are from the region,” said Morones.
But with many fleeing violence-filled, poverty-stricken countries, even that isn't a deterrent.
“We tell the people, whether they're from Central America or Mexico, don't risk your lives crossing through the desert or mountains,” said Morones.
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