A group of Central American migrants, representing the thousands participating in a caravan trying to reach the U.S. border, undertake an hours-long march to the office of the United Nations' humans rights body in Mexico City, Thursday, November 8, 2018.
The mayor of Tijuana has declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city and said on Friday that he has asked the United Nations for aid to deal with the approximately 5,000 Central American migrants who have arrived.
Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum said that the Mexican federal government has provided little assistance and he is not going to commit the city's public resources to deal with the situation.
He said 4,976 migrants had come to the city.
"I am not going to spend the money of Tijuana citizens," Gasteulum said in a news conference.
Gastelum said Friday that the Mexican government has talked about sending 20 tons of resources to Tijuana to help but that three-fourths consisted of materials to reinforce the border and only 5 tons were materials to actually help the migrants.
Earlier, a small group of migrants waving Honduran and U.S. flags demonstrated outside of the sports center turned into a shelter, demanding to be allowed to enter the U.S.
For the most part, the migrant caravan that left Honduras in mid-October was well received by the towns it passed through along the way to the border.
Even cities with few resources made sure the migrants had food and a place to rest.
But in those places, the caravan stayed at most two nights — with the exception of Mexico City.
In Tijuana, many of the migrants who are fleeing violence and poverty want to request asylum in the United States and face the prospect of spending months in the border city before they have the opportunity to speak with a U.S. official.
Rosa Castillo, a migrant from Honduras said that she has applied for a work permit in Mexico, but is still hoping to be able to enter the U.S.
Most of the migrants are staying at a makeshift shelter at a sports stadium in the city.
They are receiving support from local churches and private citizens who have been providing food, as well as various agencies of the Baja California state government, which says it identified 7,000 job openings for those who qualify.
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