Migrants fill Tijuana shelters, more on way to US border
About 100 migrants declined offers of rides to shelters and had camped out late Wednesday
TIJUANA, MEXICO (AP) >> Members of a migrant caravan started to meet some local resistance as they continued to arrive by the hundreds in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, where a group of residents clashed with migrants camped out by the U.S. border fence.
About 100 migrants declined offers of rides to shelters and had camped out late Wednesday by the steel border fence at Tijuana’s beach area, when a similar number of local residents marched up to the group shouting, “You’re not welcome,” and, “Get out!”
Police kept the two sides apart. Vladimir Cruz, a migrant from El Salvador, said Thursday, “These people are the racists, because 95 percent of people here support us.”
“It is just this little group that doesn’t support us,” Cruz said. “They are uncomfortable because we’re here.”
Playas de Tijuana, as the area is known, is an upper-middle- class enclave, and residents appeared worried about crime and sanitation. One protester shouted, “This isn’t about discrimination, it is about safety!”
There are real questions about how the city of Tijuana will manage to handle the migrant caravans working their way up through Mexico, and which may total 10,000 people in all.
“No city in the world is prepared to receive this number of migrants,” said Mario Osuna, the Tijuana city social development director. He said the city hopes the federal government “will start legalizing these people immediately” so they could get jobs and earn a living in Tijuana.
The migrants, who slept in overcrowded shelters and in tents with a view of armed U.S. Bor-
said James Pegues.
Pegues said that volunteers will be at two Rensselaer County Wal-Mart locations after Thanksgiving and will be out until Christmas Eve.
This year, Larry and Catherine Murray of Blanchard Industrial Supplies on River Street in Troy is the main sponsor for the campaign in Troy.
“It’s just something that we do to help out the community,” said Larry Murray. “I think everybody has the responsibility to do a little something in the community.”
In addition to the Red Kettle campaign, the Salvation Army is quite active in other ways during the holiday season. It takes part in the annual Victorian Stroll in downtown Troy, as conducts Adopt a Family and Christmas Tags programs to benefit families and children in need during the holidays.
“This is all about partnerships and you can see today the people that the Salvation Army assist helps on a daily basis,” said Troy City Council President Carmella Mantello.