SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Tijuana Mayor Ismael Burgueño Ruiz says he will not lift an emergency declaration he made last month as a way to prepare for mass deportations from the United States.
“At the moment, we have seen some deportation, but not as predicted,” Burgueño Ruiz said. “Nevertheless, we need to stay on top of this dynamic.”
The mayor says the emergency declaration issues Dec. 13 frees up funding from the federal government, which allows them to stay ready for large numbers of people who might suddenly descend on the city.
“It allows us to prevent situations where we have to deal with a lot of bureaucracy,” he said. “This bypasses a lot of red tape and it gives us a lot of authority to act immediately when the need arises.”
The mayor made these comments during a meeting with residents Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, as of Thursday morning, the shelter set up for deported migrants in Tijuana has taken in 216 Mexican nationals since it opened late last week.
Mónica Vega Aguirre, coordinator for the Baja California state government, says only 40 of the migrants have chosen to spend the night with most accepting a bus ticket to return to their place of origin.
She also said some have secured flights with the help of family members.
The majority of the deported migrants have been single men,” Vega Aguirre said. “We’ve only had three family units with four little children.”
The shelter is providing food, medical attention and psychological care to the people being deported, along with birth certificates and a bank card with $100 on it.
“We’ve been getting about 50 to 60 migrants per day, less than before,” she said, adding that before Trump took office, the city was taking in anywhere from 100 to 400 deported migrants daily.
The shelter has space for up to 2,600 people, although the biggest number in the shelter, at one time, has been 90, Vega Aguirre said.
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