The major of Tijuana, Mexico says the people or entities responsible for organizing the migrant caravans "are the real criminals" for gambling with peoples' lives and should be arrested.
Mayor Juan Manuel Gastélum told Fox News in an interview on Friday that not only are his residents suffering from the influx, but the migrants are also living in unsanitary and inhumane conditions at an overcrowded tent encampment as a result of the lack of aid from the Mexican federal government.
Making matters worse, the conditions in the encampment deteriorated "overnight with heavy winds and rain – flooding overcrowded spaces, leaving wet clothes, sleeping bags and litter strewn about an unsanitary and inhumane existence," Fox News reports.
Gastélum last week declared a "humanitarian crisis" and requested international support. He criticized the Mexican federal government for "categorically" failing their "legal obligations" to provide aid for the now over 6,000 migrants who arrived to the border city via caravan.
He told Fox News on Friday that not only are public resources being strained, but Tijuana residents are unfairly being made to face the consequences of Sunday's attempted invasion, as the busy San Ysidro port of entry was closed after hundreds of migrants rushed the border and forced U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to stop any and all vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
“In those six hours that the border was closed, we lost approximately 129 million pesos,” said Gastélum. “That's not fair. How do you think people from Tijuana feel towards those people who are making problems?”
Echoing previous remarks that he would not bankrupt his city due to the caravans' arrivals, he said, “I’m not going to break public services to solve this problem."
“It's problem he must solve, as soon as he gets into office," said Gastélum, referring to the incoming president Andrew Manuel Lopez Obrador who takes office on Saturday.
For more, check out the Fox News report below.