Protesters march against migrant caravan in Tijuana, chanting ‘yes to migrants, no to invaders!’

TIJUANA, Mexico — Hundreds of Tijuana residents, opposed to what they described as the "chaos" of the Central American migrant caravan, gathered at a prominent roundabout in Tijuana Sunday morning, before marching to a large, makeshift shelter, which now holds about 2,400 migrants.

They chanted “Mexico! Mexico!” and “yes to migrants, no to invaders!” They sang the national anthem and waved Mexican flags and banners and signs, with messages urging the migrants to go home and urging the government to take action.

Some protesters said Mexico doesn’t have the resources to care for its own people, let alone migrants from Central America. They pointed to communities affected by a recent hurricane that hit Sinaloa and Nayarit, which caused flooding and other damage, as well as the homicide rate in Tijuana, which has reached an all-time high.

Some said the Mexican government should follow President Donald Trump in enacting stricter border policies. They said the government should secure the southern border with Guatemala and require all immigrants to enter legally. 

They’re not racist or anti-immigrant, some protesters said, but they oppose how the migrants entered the country.

“Our country doesn’t have the resources to sustain itself,” said Tijuana resident Guadalupe Barrera. She held a sign that read in Spanish “no more caravans.”

“This is not racism,” she said. “We are opposed to the invasion.”

She also said she’s concerned that the presence of the caravan would cause the US to close the border, jeopardizing people who live by the Mexican border and depend on the US economy.

They pointed to how members of the migrant caravan had climbed the border fence between Tijuana and San Diego earlier in this week. This proves that the migrants are violent and disorderly, they said.

America Villa was in Playas de Tijuana on Wednesday afternoon and watched as a young caravaner climbed up the border fence and tried to pull off part of the corroded wall. Seeing that, she said, proved to her that some of the migrants are delinquent. 

She said she would like to see the Mexican government register all the migrants. Those that have any criminal history should be immediately deported, she said. 

According to a Facebook invitation, the protesters want the migrants not engage in marches or protests that cause the closure of roadways and that they not engage in confrontations with immigration agents that cause the closure of ports of entry.

Around 11 a.m., the group left the roundabout and marched toward another roundabout, where a counter-protest had taken place.

Counter-protesters had gathered nearby in demonstration against what they've labeled "discrimination." Organizers of that event said want respect and dignity for the migrants fleeing poverty and violence, according to the Facebook invitation. By the time the anti-caravan protesters arrived, the other group had mostly left.

The protesters then marched along the street Paseo de Los Heroes toward the sports complex that’s been converted into a temporary migrant shelter, where some 2,400 migrants are staying.

About 150 federal and local police responded with riot gear and physical barriers, preventing the protesters from getting to the migrants.

A block away from the riot barriers, 20-year-old Kevin Flores peered at the commotion through a metal gate at the sports complex. He said the protesters were racist.

“We came here for the opportunities available in the U.S. or any other country,” he said.

About 2,400 members of a caravan of mostly Central American migrants arrived in Tijuana during the past week, and more than 1,000 in nearby Mexicali are expected to travel to Mexico's westernmost border city in the coming days.

The migrants' presence has already caused divisions in Tijuana, a city that has long been viewed as welcoming to immigrants. Their arrival sparked a confrontation Wednesday night with local residents, who demanded the migrants leave a beachfront park near the California-Mexico border and go to a shelter. And their presence spurred sharp words from the city's mayor, who, in an interview with Mexican media outlet Milenio, called the migrants "vagrants" and "potheads."

More: Tijuana shelters reaching capacity as migrant caravan continues to stream into border city

More: More than a thousand migrants waiting in Mexicali, plan to go to Tijuana on bus or by foot

Enrique Morones, founder of the San Diego-based immigrant advocacy group Border Angels, compared Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastélum's disparaging comments about the migrants to President Donald Trump's characterizations of the caravan members as criminals and "unknown Middle Easterners." Morones said the mayor's words have inflamed passions in the city.

"Words of hate cause acts of hate," Morones said at a news conference Saturday in Playas de Tijuana, the site of Wednesday night's confrontation between residents and migrants. "We've seen it with the Trump Administration, and now we're seeing it with the mayor of Tijuana."

"We will not tolerate that," he said. "We know that Tijuana is a loving city."

At the center of the conflict are the migrants, most of them from Honduras, who are currently staying in a Tijuana sports complex that has been converted into a temporary migrant shelter. On Saturday morning, people had set up makeshift sleeping quarters: thin mattresses and wool blankets on an indoor basketball court, and outdoor in tents on grass patches, in nooks under bleachers and inside baseball field dugouts. The shelter offered potable water and portable showers and toilets, but people said there was little food available.

"These are no conditions a human should live in, not even a dog would