Large Migrant Camp In Tijuana Fenced Off For Border Reopening

A fence has been put up around the camp of about 1,000 people near the Chaparral border crossing on the Mexican side, in order for the police to be able to control who goes in and out. This will much discourage the illegal activity in the camp and probably greatly reduce the number of people staying there, if they cannot continue the reported drug sells and sexual services in the camp, as before.

This is in preparation for the US to start allowing foreign citizens with tourist visas to cross into the US. During the pandemic US citizens have always been able to cross into Mexico by car or by foot at the border crossings and return without any proof of a Covid test or vaccination. Though this crossing was blocked by the camp, there is another pedestrian crossing on the east side of the port of entry that has always been open during the pandemic.

The US Government and media misled the public during the pandemic and made many US citizens and permanent residents believe that they could not cross the border and return, unless it was “essential business”. That only applied to non-resident, foreign citizens with visas for non-essential travel coming into the US.

At that end of the article the Mayor of Tijuana says that the mission of most of these people is “to enter the US legally“. That’s not true, the mission of most of these people is to fraudulently manipulate our asylum system, so that they can be released into the US to live illegally with very little risk of ever being deported. They often exploit and terribly abuse small children in order to fraudulently gain entry into the US, because the US government has intentionally made that possible for child abusers and child traffickers for political and economic reasons.


Tijuana puts fence around migrant camp to monitor entrances and exits

View of the El Chaparral camp in Tijuana. On Thursday night the perimeter was fenced to conduct a census, and now they are asked for Identification to enter and exit. (Alexandra Mendoza / U-T)

Mayor of Tijuana denies that there is pressure from the United States to evict migrant camp.

BY ALEXANDRA MENDOZA
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE EN ESPAÑOL
OCT. 29, 2021 8:36 PM PT

TIJUANA, Mexico – A man approaches a group of municipal police in Tijuana. He takes out an ID from his bag and with it, he is granted entrance to the migrant camp set up for months in El Chaparral.

This is the new dynamic for hundreds of migrants living in the site after local authorities surrounded the area with around 180 linear meters of chain-link fence on Thursday night.

The objective, according to authorities, is to carry out a census of the people who live in said settlement, and grant them an ID so that in addition to identifying them, they have control of entrances and exits.

‘Who enters and who leaves will be registered, and we are going to provide them with security and human rights conditions,’ said Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero on Friday.

Man shows his credential and with it, police allow him access to the El Chaparral camp located a few steps from the PedWest pedestrian crossing between Tijuana and San Ysidro (Alexandra Mendoza / U-T)

In total, on Thursday night, 738 migrants were counted out of an estimated 1230 people. This Friday, it is planned to continue with the registration of those who were missing.

It was found that most of the people living in the site are of Mexican nationality, in addition to migrants from Colombia, Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and a person from the United States, Caballero said.

It is intended to offer support to families who want to return to their countries of origin, and recommend asylum for those who prefer to stay in the city, Caballero added. A family from Honduras has already requested there return, he said.

This camp was set up since the beginning of the year right at the entrance of the PedWest pedestrian crossing on its Mexican side. This border crossing has been closed since April 2020 in response to the pandemic.

But a few days from now the United States will reopen the land border with Mexico to tourists who are fully vaccinated, it is thought that the crosswalk could reopen operations.

A spokeswoman with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in connection with PedWest that ‘the agency will continue to work closely with its international partners to determine how to resume travel safely and sustainably.’

View of the mesh installed around the migrant camp in Tijuana (Alexandra Mendoza / U-T)

Caballero denied that there is pressure from the US government to clear the entrance to the pedestrian crossing.

“Pressure for the United States, there is none. On the contrary, there is patience and the desire to support what we need for the opening, ”said Caballero. ‘It will not open on November 8 (…) we will still continue with this problem, but the important thing is first to have the certainty of the information.’

However, he did acknowledge that the goal is for the space to eventually be cleared again.

“The goal is that, that we can once again travel there and that people relocate, (either to) their places of origin, in Tijuana, or achieve their mission of legally moving to the United States. I am not the one to limit anyone’s dreams and I am here to help them ”.

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