TIJUANA MAYOR DENOUNCES ‘HORDE’ OF CARAVAN MIGRANTS, CALLS FOR SWIFT DEPORTATION
Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum said Thursday that caravan migrants arriving by the hundreds are no longer welcome, an increasingly common sentiment among residents of the Mexican border city.
Gastelum described the caravan of Central American migrants as a “horde” that has been infiltrated by criminals who now threaten the community, in an
interview with Milenio Television.
“Tijuana is a city of immigrants, but we don’t want them in this way,” the mayor, a member of the conservative National Action Party, said. “It was different with the Haitians, they carried papers, they were in order. It wasn’t a horde, pardon the expression.”
Gastelum called on the Mexican government to deport the caravan migrants as soon as possible.
“You’re going to tell me we have to respect human rights,” he said. “But human rights are for law-abiding humans.”
The mayor’s comments reflected anger among many Tijuana residents at the increasing number of caravan migrants who have been streaming into the city since last weekend. About 3,000 were there as of Thursday night, and thousands more are expected to arrive over the coming weeks.
Hundreds of Tijuana residents protested Wednesday evening at a park just south of the border fence, where many of the
migrants have set up camp. Some of the protesters shouted anti-immigrant slogans and tossed rocks at the migrants, even as police looked on.
MORE HERE:
Tijuana Mayor Denounces ‘Horde’ Of Caravan Migrants, Calls For Swift Deportation