Caravan migrants weigh options
U.S. court blocked Trump’s asylum ban for illegal border crossers
TIJUANA, MEXICO — Migrants camped in Tijuana after travelling in a caravan to reach the U.S were weighing their options Tuesday after a U.S. court blocked President Donald Trump’s asylum ban for illegal border crossers.
Many said they have no intention of breaking the law, but were feeling pressure after antimigrant protests in this Mexican border city and claims by Trump and the Tijuana mayor that the caravan harbours gang members and criminals, something they strongly deny.
Keven Paul Mejia, a 27-year-old former security guard from the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, said there were some delinquents travelling with the group of several thousand who smoke marijuana and get drunk.
But, he said, most are like him, just hoping to land a job in the U.S.
“There are more of us who are good, than bad,” Mejia said.
Herson Cordonez, a 29-year-old Honduran, said the actions of a few migrants were tainting the image of the 4,000 to 6,000 in the caravan, not all of whom have yet reached Tijuana. “We are not criminals, we are migrant workers,” Cordonez said, adding that he was considering trying to get into Canada if the U.S. doesn’t want him.
On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristen Nielsen visited a San Diego pacific coast beach examining up close the newly installed razor wire wrapped around a towering border wall that cuts across the sand. On the Tijuana side, dozens of onlookers gathered with cellphones to take pictures of her arrival through the fence.
“This is a border wall with row upon row of concertina wire,” Nielsen said.
“Make no mistake, we are very serious. You will not get into our country illegally.”
She said there were as many as 500 criminals and gang member in the groups heading northward, though she refused to answer questions about how they were identified or what crimes they had committed. She added that caravan migrants had assaulted “border police in multiple countries,” even using “incendiary devices,” though she provided no evidence.
A day earlier, Tijuana officials said they had arrested 34 caravan
members for drug possession, public intoxication, disturbing the peace and resisting police, and they would be deported to their home countries
Nielsen said there were 6,200 migrants already camped in Tijuana and another 3,000 in Mexicali, a few hours’ drive to the east. She said most were young single men who have no legitimate claim to U.S. asylum, adding that wanting to get a job in the U.S. or be reunited with family were not reasons to be allowed in.
Less than an hour before Nielsen’s arrival a man tried to swim into the U.S., but was quickly detained by border patrol agents. Five agents were on jet skis offshore along with two border patrol boats, while two drones on the Mexican side hovered just above the wall to get a view of the activity.
Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum has made a point of saying the city is not happy with the migrants who began arriving last week.