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A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 24 November 2018
Tijuana declares ‘humanitarian crisis,’ seeks help from UN

By JULIE WATSON, Associ- volunteers worked togeth-
ated Press er to assist the 4,976 men,
TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — women and children, most
The mayor of Tijuana has of whom were camped
declared a humanitarian out at a makeshift shelter
crisis in his border city and at a sports complex af-
said Friday he was asking ter spending more than
the United Nations for aid a month on the road. The
to deal with the approxi- Trump administration has
mately 5,000 Central Amer- spent weeks lambasting
ican migrants who have the caravan, which it said
arrived. was filled with criminals,
The comments by Mayor gang members and even
Juan Manuel Gastelum — it insinuated at one point
came as city officials and without any proof — terror-

Migrants sleep on a street near the Chaparral border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, Friday, Nov. 23,
2018.
Associated Press.
ists. can start looking for work. Mexico had lost “control”
Manuel Figueroa, who Meanwhile, since his soc- of the situation in Tijuana.
leads the city’s social ser- cer team can no longer “That’s serious,” he said.
vices department, said Ti- practice in the stadium, he The migrants also were re-
juana was bringing in por- was spending time passing ceiving support from local
table toilets and showers, out donated pizzas and churches, private citizens
as well as shampoo and roasted chicken to the mi- who have been provid-
soap. grants. ing food, as well as vari-
It wasn’t enough. The migrant caravan ous agencies of the Baja
“Because of the absence, that left Honduras in mid- California state govern-
the apathy and the aban- October was mostly well ment, which says it identi-
donment of the federal received by the towns it fied 7,000 job openings for
government, we are hav- passed through along the those who qualify.
ing to turn to international way to the border. Even Adelaida Gonzalez, 37, of
institutions like the U.N.,” cities with few resources Guatemala City arrived in
Figueroa said. made sure the migrants Tijuana three days ago and
Rene Vazquez, 60, a Tijua- had food and a place to was having a hard time
na resident who was volun- rest. adjusting. She was tired of
teering at the stadium, said But in those places, the car- sleeping on a blanket on a
Mexico’s federal govern- avan stayed at most two dirt field, of waiting 30 min-
ment ignored the problem nights — with the excep- utes to go to the bathroom
by allowing the caravan to tion of Mexico City. In Tijua- and again to get food and
cross the country without na, many of the migrants didn’t know how much
stopping. Now the city of who are fleeing violence more she could take.
1.6 million is stuck with the and poverty are seeking “We would not have risked
fallout. asylum in the United States coming if we had known
“I don’t have anything and face the prospect of it was going to be this
against the migrants, they spending months in the hard,” said Gonzales, who
were the most deceived, border city before they left Guatemala with her
but this is affecting us all,” have the opportunity to 15-year-old son and her
Vazquez said. speak with a U.S. official. neighbor.
Gastelum vowed not to Gastelum said Friday that She said she was consider-
commit the city’s public the Mexican government ing accepting Mexico’s of-
resources to dealing with has talked about sending fer to stay and work in Chi-
the situation. On Thursday, 20 tons of resources to Tijua- apas as a refugee.
his government issued a na to help but that three- Some of the migrants
statement saying that it fourths consisted of materi- staged a small demonstra-
was requesting help from als to reinforce the border tion at the city’s Chaparral
the U.N.’s Office for the Co- and only 5 tons were for the border crossing Thursday,
ordination of Humanitarian migrants. and a few dozen spent
Affairs. The mayor also criticized the night there. Police
Vasquez, who plays on a the federal government cordoned off the streets
soccer team that uses the for not taking more seri- around the crossing tan-
sports complex, said Mex- ously President Donald gling traffic, but pedestrian
ico should step up now Trump’s threat Thursday to traffic across the border
and process humanitarian shut down the border if his continued uninterrupted
visas for the group so they administration determined Friday.q