Al Jazeera Accuses Mexicans Who Bucked Migrant Caravan of ‘Xenophobia’

A popular Qatari-owned media organization called Mexican citizens of Tijuana who bucked the migrant caravan as “xenophobic.”

“Is xenophobia growing in Mexico?” AJ+ asked in a video highlighting Mexican citizens protesting a horde of illegal migrants moving through the region.

“Hundreds of Mexicans held an anti-immigrant protest near the U.S. border and injured Central Americans,” the video said.

Of course, AJ+ left out the crucial subtlety that makes this a debate in the first place – these are not simply “immigrants,” they are illegal immigrants. There is a genuine debate to be had over whether countries should be allowed to defend their borders, and most sane people would agree that they should. What defines a nation if not its borders? The network, which usually targets white, American Republicans with its race-baiting segments, took an extraordinary leap in targeting Mexicans, whom they often depict as victims of racism by Americans.

Even the Mayor of Tijuana stated his malcontent with the caravan migrants. Big League Politics reported on the Mexican protests Friday:

In an interview with the Mexican television network Milenio TV, [Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel] Gastleum repudiated the lawlessness of the caravan, affirming that Tijuana was a “city of immigrants,” but that “we don’t want them this way.” He would go on to characterize the thousands-strong caravan of mostly Central American illegal migrants as “a horde, if you would pardon the expression.”

In the interview, Gastelum appealed for the Mexican authorities to take action- stating that they should deport the migrants as soon as possible.

Sources allege that up to 3,000 of the caravan migrants have already arrived in the city of Tijuana, which sits in Baja California across from San Diego on the other side of the U.S.-Mexico Border. Tijuana regularly faces the challenge of taking back deported Mexican nationals from the United States, and further accommodating large quantities of people who aren’t even Mexican citizens attempting to find a way into the U.S. would strain an already troubled city. According to the Daily Caller, Tijuana residents have already begun to protest the arrival of caravan migrants near an area where they have invited themselves in to set up a camp.

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