US-Mexico border as migrant caravan arrives

Huge metal or concrete barricades and walls of concertina wire went up Monday on both sides of a bustling US-Mexico border crossing as a caravan of US-bound Central American migrants pours into Tijuana, the last stop before California.

US authorities went so far as to briefly close the San Ysidro Port of Entry altogether it is one of the busiest land border crossings in the world as the new barriers were set up, triggering total gridlock for vehicles and pedestrians going from Tijuana across into San Diego.

“It was as if time stopped. Nothing is moving. Neither cars, nor people, nor my business,” said Armando Lopez, who sells newspapers, cigarettes, and candy on the Mexican side.

US Customs and Border Protection “suspended operations to safely place impediments at the port of entry that would restrict access to a large group attempting to run through the border crossing,” the agency said in a statement, referring to the migrant caravan.

President Donald Trump has characterized the caravan’s journey as an invasion, making it a central plank of his anti-immigrant platform.

The thousands-strong group set out more than a month ago from Honduras, fleeing poverty and gang violence and sometimes forcing its way across borders as the migrants head toward the US.

Some 3,500 migrants have arrived so far in Tijuana and another 3,000 are expected to start flowing in as of Tuesday. Most of those making the trek are Hondurans.

The big question is whether, once they are all together, they will try to cross over as they did from Guatemala into Mexico — by force or opt instead for the long and tedious process of requesting asylum in the US.

The economy in danger
After putting the new barriers in place at the border crossing, the authorities reopened it partially to northbound traffic.

On the Mexican side, too, metal barricades and concertina wire were put up. Federal police and soldiers patrolled the area.

“I am OK with these defenses,” said Arturo Gonzalez, a 35-year-old American who was losing his patience as he sat in his black pickup truck waiting to get into California.