Police report 350 migrants arrive at U.S. border in Tijuana

(14 Nov 2018) Mexican police reported that 350 Central American migrants traveling in a caravan arrived at a border crossing near Tijuana, Mexico on Tuesday, after the US government said it was starting work to "harden" the border ahead of the arrival of thousands of more migrants leapfrogging their way across western Mexico.
Buses carrying dozens of migrants reached the busy border crossing, as US security officials rushed to reinforce the border with barbed wire and metal fencing.
Migrants, many of them cheering, got off school buses while Mexican police officers stood guard.
Customs and Border Protection announced it was closing four lanes at the busy San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry in San Diego, California.
The migrants have come about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometres) since they started out in Honduras around Oct. 13.
San Ysidro is the border's busiest crossing, with about 110,000 people entering the U.S. every day.
That traffic includes some 40,000 vehicles, 34,000 pedestrians and 150 to 200 buses.
About 1,300 migrants in a second caravan arrived in Mexico City, where they had their first day of rest in weeks Tuesday.
An estimated 4,000 Central Americans left shelters in Guadalajara early Tuesday and were taken by bus to a highway tollbooth to wait for rides to their next destination.
Many say they are fleeing rampant poverty, gang violence and political instability primarily in the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
Mexico has offered refuge, asylum or work visas, and its government said Monday that 2,697 temporary visas had been issued to individuals and families to cover them during the 45-day application process for more permanent status.
Some 533 migrants had requested a voluntary return to their countries, the government reported.

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