'We don't want you here!' Migrant caravan is met with hostility and insults as it reaches city of Tijuana where up to 10,000 will wait six months to apply for US asylum

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Protesters waved Mexican flags, sang the Mexican national anthem and chanted 'Out! Out!' on Sunday in front of a statue of the Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc, just one mile from the US border.

They accused the migrants of being messy, ungrateful and a danger to Tijuana and complained about how the caravan forced its way into Mexico, calling it an 'invasion'.

And they voiced worries that their taxes might be spent to care for the group as they wait possibly months to apply for US asylum.  

Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum has called the migrants' arrival an 'avalanche' that the city is ill-prepared to handle, calculating that they will be in Tijuana for at least six months as they wait to file asylum claims. 

Many of the nearly 3,000 migrants, mainly Hondurans, who have reached the Mexican border with California via one of the caravans complained that they do not feel welcome in Tijuana.

People stood under a statue of indigenous Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc protesting the presence of thousands of Central American migrants in Tijuana, Mexico, on Sunday

An anti-migrant demonstrator is surrounded by the press as she argues with a woman during a protest against the presence of thousands of Central American migrants in Tijuana

A demonstrator confronts riot police near a temporary shelter on November 18 in Tijuana

Protesters waved Mexican flags, sang the Mexican national anthem and chanted 'Out! Out!' on Sunday in front of a statue of the Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc, just one mile from the US border

Demonstrators are seen in Tijuana being blocked by riot police near a temporary shelter

The vast majority were camped at an outdoor sports complex, sleeping on a dirt baseball field and under bleachers with a view of the steel walls topped by barbed wire at the newly reinforced US-Mexico border. 

The city opened the complex after other shelters were filled to capacity. Church groups provided portable showers, bathrooms and sinks. The federal government estimates the migrant crowd in Tijuana could soon swell to 10,000. 

US border inspectors are processing only about 100 asylum claims a day at Tijuana's main crossing to San Diego.

Asylum seekers register their names in a tattered notebook managed by migrants themselves that had more than 3,000 names even before the caravan arrived.

While many in Tijuana are sympathetic to the migrants' plight and are trying to assist, some locals have shouted insults, hurled rocks and even thrown punches at the migrants.

Hundreds of Tijuana residents have congregated around a monument in an affluent section of the city to protest the thousands of Central American migrants

They accused the migrants of being messy, ungrateful and a danger to Tijuana and complained about how the caravan forced its way into Mexico , calling it an 'invasion'

Anti-immigrant protesters demonstrate before marching on a shelter in Tijuana on Sunday

Migrants wait to eat at a temporary migrant shelter set up near the US-Mexico border

Migrants wash their clothes in front of the border wall at a temporary shelter in Tijuana

Migrants clean themselves in front of the border wall in Tijuana. The vast majority were camped at an outdoor sports complex, sleeping on a dirt baseball field and under bleachers

A migrant boy stands closet to the border wall while staying with his family in Tijuana

It's a stark contrast to the many Mexican communities that welcomed the caravan with signs, music and donations of clothing after it entered Mexico nearly a month ago. 

Countless residents of rural areas pressed fruit and bags of water into the migrants' hands as they passed through southern Mexico, wishing them safe journeys.

Alden Rivera, the Honduran ambassador in Mexico, visited the outdoor sports complex Saturday. 

Rivera expects the migrants will need to be sheltered for eight months or more, and said he is working with Mexico to get more funds to feed and care for them. 

He expects the migrant numbers in Tijuana to reach 3,400 over the weekend, with another 1,200 migrants having made it to Mexicali, another border city a few hours to the east of Tijuana. 

An additional 1,500 migrants plan to reach the US border region next week.

Riot police on Sunday hold their shields during a protest against migrants who are part of a caravan of thousands traveling en route to the United States from Central America

Demonstrators clash during a protest against migrants from Central America in Tijuana

A demonstrator with a sign that reads 'No to the invasion' in Spanish at a protest in Tijuana

Demonstrators with signs that say 'No more Caravans', and 'Let's save Tijuana, no more caravans' in Spanish under an statue of indigenous Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc

An anti-migrant demonstrator sporting a 'Lucha Libre' wrestling mask attends a protest against the presence of thousands of Central American migrants in Tijuana

Demonstrators protest the presence of Central American migrants in Tijuana wield sign signs that read 'No to the invasion,' top left, and 'Priority Mexico,' top right, in Spanish

Police stand guard to protect a migrant shelter as demonstrators protest the presence of thousands of Central American migrants in Tijuana

Rivera said 1,800 Hondurans have returned to their country since the caravan first set out on October 13, and that he hopes more will make that decision.

'We want them to return to Honduras,' Rivera said, adding that each migrant must weigh whether to go home, appeal for asylum in Mexico or wait in line to apply for asylum in the US.

The Mexican Interior Ministry said Friday that 2,697 Central American migrants have requested asylum in Mexico under a program that the country launched on October 26 to more quickly get them credentials needed to live, work and study in southern Mexico. 

Ivis Muñoz, 26, has considered returning to Honduras. The coffee farmer called his father in Atima, Honduras, on Saturday to consult on his next move a few days after being attacked on a beach by locals in Tijuana. His father told him to stick it out.

Munoz has a bullet in his leg. A gang member shot him a year ago in Honduras and threatened to kill him if he sees him again. Munoz said he found out later his girlfriend had been cheating on him with the gang member.

He's afraid to go home, but he feels unwelcome in Tijuana.

Munoz was asleep on a beach in Tijuana with about two dozen other migrants when rocks came raining down on them around 2am on Wednesday. 

He heard a man shout in the darkness: 'We don't want you here! Go back to your country!'

Central American migrants peer out from a migrant shelter as anti-immigrant demonstrators protest a block away in Tijuana

Migrants reach for food handouts at a temporary shelter set up near the US-Mexico border

Cesar Elvir, a migrant from Honduras, lifts his daughter Sujhey at a migrant shelter in Tijuana

Central American migrants moving towards the United States in hopes of a better life, remain in a shelter in Mexicali on Sunday

The Central American migrant caravan faced a desperate situation Friday as its numbers swelled at the US-Mexican border, where it got a cold welcome

People exercise near the recently-fortified the US-Mexico border fence on Sunday evening

A migrant, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America trying to reach the United States, climbs the border fence between Mexico and the United States

A migrant climbs the border fence between Mexico and the US as the sun sets in Tijuana

People gather near at the US-Mexico border wall in Playas de Tijuana, northwestern Mexico

A US Coast Guard helicopter patrols over the US-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico, on Sunday

Paulino, a migrant man from Honduras, gestures at the border fence between Mexico and the United States, in Tijuana

Soldiers are working in Laredo to install fencing as part of a military deployment ordered by President Donald Trump to harden the US-Mexico border

A couple walks past the recently-fortified the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Tijuana, Mexico

A migrant girl, part of a caravan of thousands, waits to shower in a temporary shelter in Tijuana

Tijuana dissidents have shouted insults, hurled rocks and even thrown punches at the migrants. Pictured: Central American migrants arrive at a shelter in Mexicali on Saturday

A child rest at a temporary migrant shelter located at a sports complex in Tijuana, Mexico

It's a stark contrast to the many Mexican communities that welcomed the caravan with signs, music and donations of clothing. Pictured: Migrants takes a rest at a shelter in Mexicali on Saturday

Officials expect the migrant numbers in Tijuana to reach 3,400 over the weekend, with another 1,200 migrants having made it to Mexicali. Pictured: Salvadoran migrants rest before joining the caravan on Sunday

Munoz and the others got up and ran for cover, heading toward the residential streets nearby. As the sun rose, they hitched a ride on a passing truck to Tijuana's downtown. Now he is staying at the sports complex.

'I don't know what to do,' said Munoz. He fears the US won't grant him asylum, and that he'll get deported if he tries to cross into the country without authorization.

Carlos Padilla, 57, a migrant from Progreso, Honduras, said a Tijuana resident shouted 'migrants are pigs' as he passed on the street recently. He did not respond. 

'We didn't come here to cause problems, we came here with love and with the intention to ask for asylum,' Padilla said. 'But they treat us like animals here.'

Padilla said he will likely return to Honduras if the US rejects his asylum request.

The migrants' expected long stay in Tijuana has raised concerns about the ability of the border city of more than 1.6 million to handle the influx.

Tijuana officials said they converted the municipal gymnasium and recreational complex into a shelter to keep migrants out of public spaces. 

The city's privately run shelters have a maximum capacity of 700. The municipal complex can hold up to 3,000; as of Friday night there were 2,397 migrants there.

Some business owners near the shelter complained on Saturday of migrants panhandling and stealing.

Migrant children, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America trying to reach the United States, play together at a shelter in Tijuana

Migrant children play together in front of the border wall with the United States, while they rest in a temporary shelter

President Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to lament about the migrant caravan and demand the migrants return home 

Francisco Lopez, 50, owns a furniture store nearby. He said a group of migrants took food from a small grocery a few doors down, and he worries that crime in the area will rise the longer the migrants stay at the shelter.

Other neighbors expressed empathy.

'These poor people have left their country and they're in an unfamiliar place,' said Maria de Jesus Izarraga, 68, who lives two blocks from complex.

As Izarraga spoke from her home's front door, a man interrupted to ask for money to buy a plate of beans. 

He said he came with the caravan and had blisters on his feet. She gave him some pesos, and continued speaking: 'I hope this all works out in the best possible way.'

Outside the complex, lines of migrants snaked along the street to receive donations of clothes and coolers full of bottled water being dropped off by charity groups and others looking to help the migrants.

Felipe Garza, 55, acknowledged that many in his hometown don't want to help as he and other volunteers from his church handed migrants coffee and rolls at the impromptu municipal shelter.

'It's uncomfortable to receive such a big multitude of people, but it's a reality that we have to deal with,' he said.

Some migrants have heard shouts of 'We don't want you here! Go back to your country!' Pictured: migrants wash their clothes in front of a border wall in Tijuana

Some feel the US won't grant them asylum, and that they'll get deported if they to cross into the country without authorization. Pictured: Zaira Fonseca from Honduras (left) cries while looking for her lost son in a shelter, in Mexicali on Saturday

The migrants' expected long stay in Tijuana has raised concerns about the ability of the border city of more than 1.6 million to handle the influx. Pictured: Migrants ride in a bus on its way to Mexicali, in Navojoa, on Saturday

Some business owners near the shelter complained on Saturday of migrants panhandling and stealing. Pictured: View of clothes belonging to Central American migrants - mostly Hondurans - in a shelter, in Mexicali on Saturday

Countless residents of rural areas pressed fruit and bags of water into the migrants' hands as they passed through southern Mexico, wishing them safe journeys. Pictured:  Central American migrants - mostly Hondurans - take a rest in a shelter in Mexicali on Saturday

Garza surmised that if the Central Americans behave, Tijuana will embrace them just as it did thousands of Haitians in 2016. Those Haitians have since opened restaurants, hair salons and enrolled in local universities.

Police officer Victor Coronel agrees but wonders how much more the city can take. 

'The only thing we can do is hope that President (Donald) Trump opens his heart a little,' said Coronel.

Trump, who sought to make the caravan a campaign issue in last week's elections, took to Twitter on Friday to aim new criticism at the migrants.

'Isn't it ironic that large Caravans of people are marching to our border wanting U.S.A. asylum because they are fearful of being in their country — yet they are proudly waving..their country's flag. Can this be possible? Yes, because it is all a BIG CON, and the American taxpayer is paying for it,' Trump said in a pair of tweets.

 

Trump claimed the fact migrants were traveling to the US border was a 'big con' implying that they are not fleeing persecution in their home countries as some are carrying national flags