SAN DIEGO — An estimated 500 migrants are arriving in Tijuana daily according to Enrique Lucero, head of the city’s Migrant Affairs Office.
“Between the 250 or so migrants who are getting deported every day, sometimes there’s more, and the ones who travel to the city, we have about 500,” said Lucero.
Lucero added that through the end of April, there were about 200 new migrants showing up in the city, per day, not counting those who were deported.
“In the weeks leading up to the end of Title 42, we saw an increase of 30 to 40 percent of arrivals into the city, but since then, we’re only seeing about 500,” said Lucero.
Title 42 expired May 11.
Currently, there are 30 sanctioned shelters in Tijuana that are part of a network overseen by the city and they’re all working at capacity according to Lucero.
Miguel Lepe Bravo, a federal delegate from Baja California, has said the Baja border region was not prepared to accommodate so many migrants.
“There’s insufficient infrastructure to handle all the migrants,” said Lepe Bravo. “We are looking for resources to take care of everyone.”
Lepe Bravo was also asked by reporters about the growing number of migrants now camping out at the San Ysidro Port of Entry hoping to gain access to the U.S.
Mexico’s National Institute of Immigration has said it wants to remove the migrants from the area.
“This is something for the immigration institute to decide, it depends 100 percent on them to figure out how to process the migrants, that’s all we can do,” said Lepe Bravo.
There are now more than 200 migrants camping out at the border crossing hoping for an opportunity to enter the U.S. and get an interview to begin their asylum cases.