US blockades border as first 400 migrants reach Tijuana
AROUND 400 Central American migrants travelling through Mexico to seek asylum in the US arrived at the border city of Tijuana yesterday.
The group, which includes around 80 LGBT asylum seekers, broke away from a 5,000-strong caravan in Mexico City. Larger groups are expected to reach the border in the coming days.
The US government said it was starting work to “harden” the border crossing from Tijuana to prepare for the arrival of the migrants, closing four lanes at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry in San Diego, California.
It said the closures were needed “to install and pre-position port hardening infrastructure equipment”.
San Ysidro is the border’s busiest crossing, with around 110,000 people entering the US every day. That traffic includes some 40,000 vehicles, 34,000 pedestrians and 150 to 200 buses.
The first 350-strong migrant group arrived in Tijuana on Tuesday aboard a fleet of buses. The presence of the LGBT group provoked an angry backlash from local residents, activists said.
The asylum seekers are among thousands of migrants making their way through Mexico towards the US. They split from their caravan after facing discrimination from others in the group.
Fergie Bibiana Andersen of the advocacy group Diversidad sin Fronteras said the LGBT migrants had been verbally abused in Tijuana and threatened on social media. “They’re being attacked by the town,” said Ms Andersen. “They [attackers] are filled with hate. They’re racist people who think [the migrants] are going to just stay there.”