Police in Tijuana were called out over the weekend to deal with clashes between the migrants in the Caravan and residents of Tijuana. Local media have reported that residents don’t appreciate the overcrowding in their churches, parks and clinics.
Last week, a couple hundred members of the LGBTQ community in Honduras arrived in Tijuana. The LA Gay and Lesbian Center says the group broke away from the original Caravan in Mexico City after they were harassed and assaulted by men in the Caravan.
The LGBTQ group chartered a bus from Mexico City to Tijuana. There are reports that residents in Tijuana have even threatened the LGBTQ group so they have been sequestered at a location away from the public and the media.
Some humanitarian groups say they’re trying to get as many doctors as possible to travel to Tijuana from California and volunteer to help treat illnesses. Officials in Tijuana have reported cases of Norovirus and other communicable diseases.
On Friday, the Commissioner for Customs and Border Protection, Kevin MacAleenan, was nearly hit with a rock while touring Friendship Park in between the US and Mexico border fence.
MacAleenan says he’s aware of the potential for violence among the Caravaners and has ordered extra protection at vulnerable points of the border from Texas to California.
It’s not clear how many migrants from the Caravan have arrived in Tijuana. Government officials and Non-Profit groups in Tijuana say there are a few hundred already in the city with as many as 5,000 expected in the coming weeks.
Photo: Courtesy of CBP