Parents close school over migrants' clash at border
TIJUANA, Mexico — Tension continued Tuesday as residents in the Mexican border city of Tijuana closed down a school next to a sports complex where more than 5,000 Central American migrants have been camped out for two weeks.
The move by the parent’s association of the elementary school came after U.S. border agents fired tear gas into Mexico to turn back a group of migrants who had breached the border over the weekend. The incident prompted Mexican authorities to step up the police presence around the shelter.
Citing fears for their children’s safety, the parents bought their own lock and chain and closed the school’s gates. A sign on the gate said the school would remain closed until further notice.
Carmen Rodriguez said parents had been calling for authorities to do something since the migrants arrived, adding her 9-year-old daughter won’t be returning to classes until they are gone.
“We are asking that they be relocated,” Rodriguez said, noting some migrants had approached the school grounds to ask children for money, to use the school’s bathrooms and that some smoked marijuana around its perimeter walls.
She said the parents worry about the anti-migrant protesters approaching the sports complex again, as they did last week. “If they come here and there is a confrontation, we will be caught in the middle,” she said.
The migrants themselves were urgently exploring their options amid a growing feeling that they had little hope of making successful asylum bids in the United States or of crossing the border illegally.
Most were dispirited after the U.S. agents fired tear gas on the group of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. on Sunday. They saw the clash and official response as hurting their chances of reaching the U.S.
There was a steady line Tuesday outside a tent housing the International Organization for Migration, where officials were offering assistance to those who wanted to return to their home countries.
Officials also reported more interest from migrants wanting to start the process of staying in Mexico.
