NBC News reported on a survey conducted by El Universal, a popular Mexican newspaper, that found about seven in 10 Mexicans have a negative view about Central American caravan migrants. It also found that 52 percent of Mexicans oppose giving work permits to the migrants, 52 percent want those without legal documents blocked from entering Mexico and 55 percent support cracking down on future caravans.
Mexicans in the Tijuana area have protested the migrants’ presence on several occasions. After the U.S. shut the border down Sunday to deal with a group of 500 migrants who violently rushed the border, some Tijuana residents and business owners threatened the migrants with bats and sticks. Later, over 100 federal police in riot gear searched for the border rushers at the Benito Juarez shelter, where most of the migrants are staying. Tijuana closed border-area schools Monday for the children’s safety.
Baja Gov. Francisco Vega estimated that about 9,000 migrants are in his state. Most are in Tijuana, with a smaller number in Mexicali. He called it “an issue of national security” and appealed to Mexico’s federal government to assume responsibility for sheltering the migrants.
Mexico's Secretary for the Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, told MSNBC that "there has been a tremendous effort in Mexico by the business community and the authorities to offer alternatives to migrants, even to take temporary jobs in Mexico." While that might provide a temporary solution, "permanent crossing of the border is an impossible solution because it will damage jobs in the U.S. and in Mexico."
The Associated Press reports Sunday’s border clash left migrants worried about their chances for asylum. “The way things went yesterday ... I think there is no chance,” one said. Mexican Human Rights Commission officials have since received more requests from migrants who want to return to their countries.
Read more at NBC News.
