Tijuana residents close school next to migrant site

TIJUANA, Mexico — Tension continued Tuesday as residents in the Mexican border city of Tijuana closed a school next to a sports complex where more than 5,000 Central American migrants have been camped out for two weeks.

The move by the parent’s association of the elementary school came after U.S. border agents fired tear gas into Mexico to turn back migrants who had breached the border over the weekend. The conflict prompted Mexican authorities to step up police presence around the shelter.

Citing fears for their children’s safety, parents bought their own lock and chain and closed the school’s gates. A sign said the school would remain closed until further notice.

Carmen Rodriguez said parents had been calling for authorities to do something since the migrants arrived, adding her 9-year-old daughter won’t return to classes until they are gone.

“We are asking that they be relocated,” Rodriguez said. Some migrants had approached the school grounds to ask children for money and to use the school bathrooms, she said, and some smoked marijuana near its perimeter walls.

Rodriguez said parents worry about protesters approaching the sports complex, as they did last week. “If they come here and there is a confrontation, we will be caught in the middle.”

Also Tuesday, President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s government signaled it would be willing to house migrants on Mexican soil while they apply for asylum in the United States — a key demand of President Donald Trump.

Mexico’s new foreign minister also called on the Trump administration to contribute to development projects to help create jobs in Central America to stem the flow of migrants from the impoverished region, suggesting an appropriate figure would start at $20 billion.