Outside the Benito Juárez migrant shelter in Tijuana, dozens stood in line Monday for a chance to return to their home country, a day after chaotic clashes at the border dimmed their hopes of entering the United States.

Members of the Central American migrant caravan slumped in a line late afternoon to ask for return passage, after traveling for more than a month and trekking thousands of miles by foot, by bus and crammed into the beds of trucks for days.

Some were tired and reluctantly surrendered their dream of going to the United States, rather than face months more in the overcrowded and unsustainable conditions in Tijuana shelters.


Others said they had economic duties to fulfill in Central America. And a small handful said they did not want to face any legal consequences for the violent confrontations with border agents and Mexican federal police on Sunday.

1 / 14 Every usable space is taken advantage of to hang fresh wet laundry at the Benito Juarez Sports Complex where migrants are sheltered from Central America. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 14 Sheltered at the Benito Juarez Sports Complex, Maria Del Carmen Mejia from Honduras arrived in Tijuana with her two daughter with hopes of seeking political asylum in the U.S. However after Sunday’s clash at the U.S. Mexico border with U.S. Border Patrol agents she is now frightened for the safety of her daughters. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 14 At the temporary shelter set in the Benito Juarez Sports Complex in Tijuana, a family relaxes under a the large tent as two others hang fresh wet laundry outside to dry. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 14 After Sunday’s clash at the U.S. Mexico border with U.S. Border Patrol agents Maria Del Carmen Mejia is now frightened for the safety of her daughters. Mejia now seeks assistance from the IOM (International Organization for Migration) with passage back to her home country, Honduras. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 14 Multiple cell phones are charged off one power strip plugged into one of the few power outlets at the temporary shelter. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 14 One of the few entertainments for many of the Central American migrants is their cell phones. Thousands of migrants have been sheltered at the temporary shelter at the Benito Juarez Sports Complex. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 14 Women wait in line outside the Benito Juarez Sports Complex in Tijuana for dinner. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 14 A woman fitted a large speaker with shoulder straps and sang for everyone outside the Benito Juarez Sports Complex in Tijuana, where asylum seekers from Central America have been sheltered. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 14 Men stand in line outside the Benito Juarez Sports Complex in Tijuana for dinner. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 14 The day after the border clash between asylum seekers and U.S. Border Patrol, life continued as children waited in one line for food and men in another line. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 14 People wait in line to do their laundry in one of the few sinks at the Benito Juarez Sports Complex in Tijuana. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 14 Every usable space is taken advantage of to hang fresh wet laundry at the Benito Juarez Sports Complex where asylum seekers are sheltered. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 14 Sheltered at the Benito Juarez Sports Complex Angel and Everlina give their daughter Ashley her medication. The family has been traveling with the Central American migrant caravan from Honduras to Tijuana and among the thousands of asylum seekers. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 14 Noel Lopez from Honduras checked in with the IOM (International Organization for Migration) staff for assistance in returning back to his hoe country. Lopez was among the thousands that recently arrived to Tijuana, Mexico after traveling for more than a month with Central American migrant caravan. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Standing in the line to return to Honduras, Jonathan Canales, 27, shrugged his shoulders while his friends teased him about being a “cry baby.”

Canales, a plumber in Honduras, said he left behind his wife and 2-year-old daughter to earn money for his household.


“I thought I’d already be working in the United States by now,” said Canales, who said he’s been in the migrant camp in Tijuana for 15 days.

Canales said his reason for leaving was not the violent turn of events Sunday when the United States Customs and Border Protection agency fired tear gas at groups, including women and children, trying to pass through gaps in border fencing and wiring. The scuffle happened after a few in the group launched rocks across the border at agents.

“No, no, no, the reason, like I told you, is we have to pay … or leave our home,” Canales said, eager to see his family and get back to work in his home country.

But Maria Granados, 22, said she had enough of “peaceful marches” becoming dangerous and she wanted to return to her 2-year-old daughter, who she left in Honduras.


“Yesterday, and in the past; that’s not why I came here,” Granados said, adding she was giving up on the idea of crossing into the U.S. “They’re not going to let us pass.”

“It’s very sad to watch your dreams dying but I’m coming to the realization that I’ve done everything I can,” said Granados who walked a grueling trip for a month and eight days before arriving at Benito Juárez last week.

“The conditions inside are not just unclean, they’re a little dangerous,” she said.

A tent set up by the International Organization for Migration collected information from 70 migrants to return to their home country on Monday, according to volunteer Juan de Dios Chavarin. He said the numbers were fluctuating.


Some migrants already left by bus this morning, Chavarin said. He said how they return will depend on individual circumstances, but they will not be walking back.

Another tent directed people to the Comision Mexicana de Ayuda de Refugiados or COMAR, in Tijuana, where Central American migrants can apply for humanitarian and work visas to remain in Mexico.

Francesca Fontanini, with COMAR, said the office has been processing 15 to 30 migrants a day from the caravan, who are choosing to remain and work in Tijuana, rather than try crossing into the United States.

“Since the first caravan arrived, about 3,500 have applied for asylum in Mexico,” said Fontanini. She said 100 of them are already working jobs in Tijuana.


At the COMAR tent, a young mother, carrying a baby, packed up to leave Benito Juárez, relieved and despondent at the same time.

“I’m glad to find better conditions, but …” she trailed off, glancing in the direction of a border fence looming just a few hundred feet away from the overcrowded shelter where CBP helicopters circling overhead made it seem much farther away.

Leslie declined to give her last name, but she said the only reason she was applying for asylum in Mexico was because she recognized the events Sunday made it clear she “can’t go to the other side.”

Fontanini said the agency is able to direct mothers and children to alternative shelters and steer resources their way when they apply for asylum in Mexico.


“These could be cases of domestic violence. It could be extortion; it could be persecution or a violation of human rights,” said Fontanini, describing who was eligible to apply for asylum in Mexico.

The COMAR has been severely backlogged itself in recent weeks with a wait of at least 45 days, but Fontanini said, in Mexico, people can work as soon as they apply for a visa, rather than waiting for the visa to be approved.

“Last week, it was under control, the situation was between 15 to 30 per day, and the total was 100 (applying) for the entire week, but I think today the COMAR received a lot of people asking for asylum,” she said.

Mexican law enforcement ramped up their presence outside the Tijuana sports arena, saying they planned to more closely monitor migrants after Sunday’s peaceful march took an ugly turn.


Jennifer Molina, 22, who has three children ranging in age from a few months to 6-years-old, adamantly said she would not return to Honduras.

“I can not go back there,” she said, adding she was more determined than ever.

When asked what she will do, she said she doesn’t know yet.

“I asked for asylum. I went up to the border and asked to come into the United States, but they said “No!” she said. “Maybe I’ll apply for asylum here, just so I can find another shelter, but there’s no way I’m going back to Honduras.”