After months of heated conversation over the Central American caravan traveling North towards the United States border, the mass amount of Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran citizens have finally neared the San Ysidro Port of Entry in Tijuana, Mexico.
With what little time Mexico and the U.S. had to effectively handle this dilemma, the migrants who’ve been traveling since October are now occupying space in El Chaparral plaza, waiting for the U.S. to open their borders.
Unfortunately, this won’t be occurring any time soon.
According to the Press Democrat, as of now there are roughly “2,750 migrants from the caravan in Tijuana” and estimates made by Mexico’s federal government “indicate the number could approach 10,000.”
Physically and mentally exhausted from their journey, some of the migrants who could no longer wait for their fate to be determined, decided to rush the border last week, some of which began to throw projectiles at American troops. This led to American authorities firing tear gas at men, women and young children.
Since then, a photograph taken by Kim Kyung-Hoon of a woman desperately trying to drag two children away from the gas has been circulating the internet, receiving mixed responses from American citizens.
While leftist were angered by the photograph, those on the right believed the migrants could have avoided the situation, had they not tried to enter the country illegally.
Upon hearing of the violence that has occured at the border since the migrants’ arrival, President Trump has failed to offer tangible solutions to deal with the current situation that requires immediate attention.
At this point, Trump continues to advocate his wall. However, the migrants are already here at the San Diego border, and the quick-fix solution of creating the wall will not solve anything.
“Republicans and Democrats MUST, come together, finally, with a major Border Security package, which will include funding for the wall. After 40 years of talk, it is finally time for action. Fix the Border, once and for all, NOW!” Trump tweeted.
Meanwhile the mayor of Tijuana, Juan Manuel Gastélum, has been given the responsibility of either relocating or compensating the Central Americans, calling it a “humanitarian crisis,” according to KPBS. He has since asked the United Nations for aid to deal with the Central American migrants who have arrived in the city.
With approximately 1,500 more migrants arriving in Tijuana within the next few days, simply disallowing caravan members into the country while applying brute force to fend our border will not stop them from coming.
Mexico has offered asylum to some of the migrants residing in their borders, many of which have refused. In the meantime, the city has done it’s best to provide shelter, sleeping pads, food and basic medical care to the caravan members. Unfortunately, Gastélum worries about how long Tijuana will be able to support them.
Many of the people who have made this treacherous journey don’t know what to do once making it to the San Ysidro Port.
They need to be educated about their options on how to move forward from this situation., whether that be applying for citizenship in the states or possibly seeking asylum in another country in order to escape the violence back home.
