TODAYS TOP HEADLINES
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Tuesday, November 20, 2018 3A
RODRIGO ABD I Associated Press
A demonstrator with a sign that reads in Spanish: “No to the invasion” protests the
presence of thousands of Central American migrants in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 18.
Local Tijuana protesters
chant ‘Out!’ at migrants
sheltering in their city
BY YESICA FISCH AND AMY GUTHRIE
Associated Press
TIJUANA, Mexico — Hundreds of
Tijuana residents congregated around a
monument in an affluent section of the city
south of California on Sunday to protest the
thousands of Central American migrants
who have arrived via caravan in hopes of a
new life in the U.S.
Tensions have built as nearly 3,000
migrants from the caravan poured into
Tijuana in recent days after more than a
month on the road, and with many more
months ahead of them while they seek asy
lum. The federal government estimates
the number of migrants could soon swell to
10,000.
U.S. border inspectors are process
ing only about 100 asylum claims a day
at Tijuana’s main crossing to San Diego.
Asylum seekers register their names in a
tattered notebook managed by migrants
themselves that had more than 3,000 names
even before the caravan arrived.
On Sunday, displeased Tijuana resi
dents waved Mexican flags, sang the Mexi
can national anthem and chanted “Out!
Out!” in front of a statue of the Aztec ruler
Cuauhtemoc, 1 mile from the U.S. border.
They accused the migrants of being messy,
ungrateful and a danger to Tijuana. They
also complained about how the caravan
forced its way into Mexico, calling it an
“invasion.” And they voiced worries that
their taxes might be spent to care for the
group.
“We don’t want them in Tijuana,” pro
testers shouted.
Juana Rodriguez, a housewife, said the
government needs to conduct background
checks on the migrants to make sure they
don’t have criminal records.
A woman who gave her name as Paloma
lambasted the migrants, who she said came
to Mexico in search of handouts. “Let their
government take care of them,” she told
video reporters covering the protest.
A block away, fewer than a dozen Tijuana
residents stood with signs of support for the
migrants. Keyla Zamarron, a 38-year-old
teacher, said the protesters don’t represent
her way of thinking as she held a sign say
ing: Childhood has no borders.
Most of the migrants who have reached
Tijuana via caravan in recent days set out
more than a month ago from Honduras,
a country of 9 million people. Dozens of
migrants in the caravan who have been
interviewed by Associated Press reporters
have said they left their country after death
threats.
But the journey has been hard, and many
have turned around.
Alden Rivera, the Honduran ambassa
dor in Mexico, told the AP on Saturday that
1,800 Hondurans have returned to their
country since the caravan first set out on
Oct. 13, and that he hopes more will make
that decision. “We want them to return to
Honduras,” said Rivera.
Honduras has a murder rate of 43 per
100,000 residents, similar to U.S. cities
like New Orleans and Detroit. In addition
to violence, migrants in the caravan have
mentioned poor economic prospects as a
motivator for their departures. Per capita
income hovers around $120 a month in
Honduras, where the World Bank says two
out of three people live in poverty.
The migrants’ expected long stay in
Tijuana has raised concerns about the abil
ity of the border city of more than 1.6 mil
lion people to handle the influx.
While many in Tijuana are sympa
thetic to the migrants’ plight and trying to
assist, some locals have shouted insults,
hurled rocks and even thrown punches at
them. The cold reception contrasts sharply
with the warmth that accompanied the
migrants in southern Mexico, where resi
dents of small towns greeted them with hot
food, campsites and even live music.
Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum
has called the migrants’ arrival an “ava
lanche” that the city is ill-prepared to han
dle, calculating that they will be in Tijuana
for at least six months as they wait to file
asylum claims. Gastelum has appealed
to the federal government for more assis
tance to cope with the influx.
Mexico’s Interior Ministry said Saturday
that the federal government was flying
in food and blankets for the migrants in
Tijuana.
Tijuana officials converted a municipal
gymnasium and recreational complex into
a shelter to keep migrants out of public
spaces. The city’s privately run shelters
have a maximum capacity of 700. The
municipal complex can hold up to 3,000.
At the municipal shelter, Josue Caseres,
24, expressed dismay at the protests against
the caravan. “We are fleeing violence,”
said the entertainer from Santa Barbara,
Honduras. “How can they think we are
going to come here to be violent?”
Some from the caravan have diverted to
other border cities, such as Mexicali, a few
hours to the east of Tijuana.
Elsewhere on Sunday, a group of 200
migrants headed north from El Salvador,
determined to also find safety in numbers
to reach the U.S. Edwin Alexander Gomez,
20, told AP in San Salvador that he wants
to work construction in New York, where
he hears the wages are better and the city
is safer.
Democratic senators sue over
Whitaker’s appointment as AG
BY ERIC TUCKER AND
MICHAEL BALSAMO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Three
Senate Democrats filed a
lawsuit Monday arguing that
Acting Attorney General Mat
thew Whitaker’s appointment
is unconstitutional and asking
a federal judge to remove
him.
The suit, filed by Sens.
Richard Blumenthal of Con
necticut, Mazie Hirono of
Hawaii and Sheldon White-
house of Rhode Island, argues
that Whitaker’s appointment
violates the Constitution
because he has not been con
firmed by the Senate.
Whitaker was chief of staff
to Attorney General Jeff Ses
sions and was elevated to the
top job after Sessions was
ousted by President Donald
Trump on Nov. 7.
The Constitution’s Appoint
ments Clause requires that
the Senate confirm all princi
pal officials before they can
serve in their office.
The Justice Department
released a legal opinion last
week that said Whitaker’s
appointment would not vio
late the clause because he is
serving in an acting capacity.
The opinion concluded that
Whitaker, even without Sen
ate confirmation, may serve
in an acting capacity because
he has been at the depart
ment for more than a year
at a “sufficiently senior pay
level.”
“President Trump is
denying senators our con
stitutional obligation and
opportunity to do our job:
scrutinizing the nomina
tion of our nation’s top law
enforcement official,”
Blumenthal said in a state
ment. “The reason is sim
ple: Whitaker would never
pass the advice and consent
test. In selecting a so-called
‘constitutional nobody’ and
thwarting every senator’s
constitutional duty, Trump
leaves us no choice but
to seek recourse through
the courts.”
The lawsuit comes days
after a Washington law
yer challenged Whitaker’s
appointment in a pending
Supreme Court case deal
ing with gun rights. The
attorney, Thomas Gold
stein, asked the high court
to find that Whitaker’s
appointment is unconstitu
tional and replace him with
Deputy Attorney General
Rod Rosenstein.
The state of Maryland
also made a similar court
filing last week in a legal
dispute with the Trump
administration over the
Affordable Care Act.
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Frantic search goes
on for missing after
California wildfires
BY SUDHIN THANAWALA
AND JANIE HAR
Associated Press
CHICO, Calif. — Desper
ate families posted photos
and messages on social media
and at shelters in hopes of
finding missing loved ones,
many of them elderly, nearly
two weeks after the deadli
est, most destructive wildfire
in California history. The
death toll stood at 77 Monday,
with about 1,000 people unac
counted for.
“I have an uncle and two
cousins that I have not been
able to make contact with.
Paul Williams, in his 90’s, his
son Paul Wayne Williams,
in his 70’s, and his daughter
Gayle Williams in her 60’s,”
one woman wrote on Face-
book. “Any info would be
appreciated.”
Hundreds of searchers
continued looking for human
remains in the ashes in Para
dise and outlying areas rav
aged by the blaze Nov. 8, with
the body count increasing
daily.
Rain in Wednesday’s
forecast added urgency to
the task: While it could help
knock down the flames, it
could hinder the search by
washing away fragmentary
remains and turning ash into
a thick paste.
The sheriff’s list of those
unaccounted for dropped
dramatically Sunday from
nearly 1,300 to 1,000 as
authorities continued to
locate people. Social media
pages gave updates on who
was dead and who was safe.
Butte County Sheriff Kory
Honea has said he released
the rough and incomplete list
in hopes that many people
would contact authorities to
say they are OK. More than
a dozen people are listed as
“unknowns,” without first or
last names. Some names are
duplicated.
“We put the list out. It will
fluctuate. It will go up. It will
go down because this is in
a state of flux,” Honea said
Monday. “My view on this
has been that I would prefer
to get the information out and
start working to find who is
unaccounted for and who is
not. I would put progress over
perfection.”
He said his office was
working with the Red Cross to
account for people entering
and leaving shelters. Evacu
ees also helped authorities
narrow the list.
Robert James Miles, who
lost his Paradise trailer in the
blaze, was staying at a shelter
in Chico, where people posted
names of those they hadn’t
heard from. Miles said he
alerted a Red Cross worker
Saturday that he recognized
eight names on the board as
friends and knew they were
OK.
“Two of them were in
the shelter,” he said with a
chuckle.
Ellen Lewis, whose home
in Paradise was destroyed,
JOHN LOCHER I Associated Press
In this Nov. 15, photo, Troy Miller wipes his eyes as he walks
beside a burned out car on his property in Concow, Calif.
Miller said he tried to evacuate when the Camp Fire came
roaring through the area, but had to turn back when the
roads were blocked with debris and fire.
went to a Federal Emer
gency Management Agency
center for help, and a FEMA
representative showed her
the list of the missing. She
recognized the names of two
people from her archery
club.
“I’m going to have to con
tact other people to see if
they’re OK,” she said. She
said she would call the sher
iff’s office if she confirmed
they were safe.
The fire, which burned
at least 234 square miles
and destroyed nearly 12,000
homes, reported was two-
thirds contained on Monday.
Meanwhile, Alcatraz
Island, San Francisco’s cable
cars, the Oakland Zoo and
other San Francisco Bay-
area area attractions were
closed Monday because of
smoke from the blaze some
180 miles away. Several San
Francisco museums over the
weekend offered free admis
sion to give people something
to do indoors.
California Insurance Com
missioner Dave Jones said
it is “way too early” to esti
mate the damage done by the
wildfire.
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