Authorities in Tijuana say they plan to open another shelter for migrants in the Mexican border city.
The shelter will house at least 3,000 people and will be located in the eastern part of the city, said Rodolfo Olimpo, a representative from Baja California state’s Special Committee on Migration Issues.
Preparations for the new shelter have been in the works for days, officials said. It could open Thursday or Friday.
Thousands of migrants have arrived in Tijuana in recent weeks. Many are traveling as part of so-called caravans, large groups that trekked from Central America, largely on foot.
Tensions flared Sunday when a group of migrants rushed the border and US authorities fired tear gas. Since then, the situation has calmed.
But Tijuana’s mayor says his city is still facing a humanitarian crisis as migrants camp out awaiting the chance to make an asylum claim in the United States.
A sports complex near the border has become a makeshift shelter for more than 5,000 migrants. That’s at least triple its capacity, and human rights groups describe conditions inside as unsanitary. They’ve accused US authorities of creating a crisis by limiting processing at ports of entry.
US officials say limited resources and capacity mean they can only process a fraction of cases on the waiting list daily.
A group of migrants said Thursday that they planned to begin a hunger strike to push for the United States to speed up the processing of asylum claims.
CNN’s Leyla Santiago and Rosalina Nieves reported from Tijuana. CNN’s Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Washington.
