Juan Manuel Gastelum
The mayor of Tijuana has declared that his government will not pay for migrants from Central America. As we read in a report from RT:
The mayor of Tijuana blasted the government for leaving the city helpless as it struggles to cover the needs of some 5,000 caravan migrants. The city’s resources are stretched to the limit and it will not bear more, he said.
Tijuana, a city on the US-Mexico border, just across from San Diego, has seen an influx of Central American migrants that had set out in caravans from Honduras and Guatemala in early October hoping to reach the US. According to the mayor, 4,976 migrants have arrived to the city, with the majority of them finding shelter at a sports complex, which authorities temporarily converted to house them.
The presence of hundreds of distraught migrants has taken its toll on the city, with clashes reported between locals and the unwanted guests. The upkeep of the migrants has cost Tijuana a hefty sum – nearly 550,000 pesos a day [$27,000], mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum said Friday, accusing the government of lackluster response to the crisis and unwillingness to share the burden.
“We do not have the necessary and sufficient infrastructure to fully attend to these people to give them a decent space,”Gastelum said at a press conference, adding that he will not pay for the migrants’ stay in the city with the money intended for the locals. “I will not spend Tijuanans’ money, I will not bring Tijuana into debt now, in the same way, we haven’t done so these past two years,” the mayor said. Accusing the administration of outgoing President Enrique Peña Nieto of turning its back on the increasingly difficult situation in the city. Gastelum said that Tijuana had to appeal to international organizations, including the UN, for assistance. “We are in a humanitarian crisis and the federal government must be held accountable!” Gastelum tweeted.