A humanitarian crisis has been declared in Tijuana after nearly 5,000 Central American people arrived at the border city having spent more than a month travelling from Honduras.

Juan Manuel Gastelum​, the city’s mayor, said on Friday he was requesting aid from the United Nations to help care for the 4,976 men, women and children who are currently living inside a sports complex.

City officials and volunteers are working together in Tijuana to assist the group, known as the migrant caravan.

A young girl cries at a shelter in Tijuana, Mexico (AP)

The group left Honduras in mid-October and has been largely well-received through the towns and cities it passed through.

But, with the exception of Mexico City, the caravan never stayed for longer than two nights in any one location.

Many of the people in the caravan are fleeing violence and poverty and are seeking asylum in the US.

They now face the prospect of being stranded in Tijuana for months as they try to find US officials to speak to.

Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Show all 30 1 /30 Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Members of the caravan of Central American migrants climb the border wall in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico EPA Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border US Border Patrol agents seen through the concertina wire where the border meets the Pacific Ocean AP Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Central American migrants pray at a temporary shelter in Tijuana AP Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Darwin, a 12 year old migrant boy from Honduras, looks out from under a tarp while taking refuge at a shelter in Tijuana Reuters Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Central American migrants line up for a meal at a shelter in Tijuana AP Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Angel, a 13-year-old migrant from Honduras looks towards the United States past the border fence in Tijuana Reuters Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Members of the LGBTQ community -who split from a caravan of Central American migrants heading to the US- arrive at the Diversidad Migrante (Migrant Diversity) NGO headquarters, which they will use as shelter, in Tijuana AFP/Getty Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border US military personell install barbed wire fences to stop the passage of Central American migrants EPA Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Young Honduran migrant Daniel Gamez waits with his family in a line for a meal after arriving with the Central America migrant caravan in Tijuana AP Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Two women, one carrying a child, walk north after crossing illegally into the United States as a Border Patrol agent moves in to detain them AP Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border epa07165763 People who are part of the first migrant caravan from Honduras start arriving at the border, in Tijuana, Mexico, 14 November 2018. The first migrant caravan advances through the northwest of Mexico as the US has reinforced its military presence at the border. EPA/Joebeth Terriquez Joebeth Terriquez EPA Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border A child looks out the window of a bus upon its arrival at a temporary shelter in Tijuana AFP/Getty Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Migrants from Honduras dry their clothes in the sand after washing off in the Pacific Ocean AP Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Central American migrants at a temporary shelter near the US-Mexico border AFP/Getty Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border US police agents stand guard near the US-Mexico border fence AFP/Getty Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border A migrant, who claimed not to be part of the Central American migrant caravan walks on the US-Mexico border fence AFP/Getty Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Eldin, a migrant man from Honduras, awakes next to his seven year old son Jose while taking refuge at a shelter in Tijuana Reuters Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Migrants line up for food at a shelter AFP/Getty Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border A man installs concertina wire on top of the border structure on the US side AP Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Central American migrants sit on an overlook in Tijuana AP Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border A migrant, who is part of a caravan traveling en route to the United States, shouts as he waits to receive food in a shelter in Tijuana REUTERS Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border A man tries to get over a border structure topped with concertina wire AP Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border People who are part of the Central American migrants caravan arrive at a shelter EPA Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border A Central American migrant moving towards the United States in hopes of a better life, is pictured next to the U.S. border fence in Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, on November 13, 2018. - US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday he will visit the US-Mexico border, where thousands of active-duty soldiers have been deployed to help border police prepare for the arrival of a "caravan" of migrants. (Photo by Guillermo Arias / AFP)GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP/Getty Images GUILLERMO ARIAS AFP/Getty Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border epa07174393 Members of the Central American migrant caravan remain at a shelter in the city of Tijuana in Baja California, Mexico, 18 November 2018. The 5,000 member migrant caravan that entered Mexico on 19 October that stopped this week in the city of Tijuana, bordering the US, are expected to meet in this city on the next day to make a decision about their future, according to local authorities. EPA/JOEBETH TERRIQUEZ JOEBETH TERRIQUEZ EPA Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Migrants pray at a temporary shelter in Tijuana AP Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border Migrants shower outside a temporary migrant shelter next to the Us-Mexico border fence Getty Images Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border US Border Patrol agents, left, speak with two Central American migrants as they sit atop the border structure AP Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border A Central American migrant looks on through the US-Mexico border fence AFP/Getty Images Migrant caravan reaches Tijuana on US border A migrant stands next to the border fence REUTERS

Manuel Figueroa, who leads Tijuana’s social services department, said city officials were bringing in portable toilets and showers, as well as shampoo and soap.

But officials said the supplies will not be enough.

“Because of the absence, the apathy and the abandonment of the federal government, we are having to turn to international institutions like the UN,” Mr Figueroa said.

Mr Gastelum, the mayor, has vowed the city’s public resources will not be used to deal with the situation.

On Friday, he said that the Mexican government claimed to have sent 20 tons of resources to Tijuana, but only 5 tons were for the migrants, while the rest was sent to secure the border.

Migrants may face months by the US border (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

Volunteers also had harsh words for the country’s leaders.

Rene Vazquez, a Tijuana resident who was volunteering at the stadium, said Mexico’s federal government ignored the problem by allowing the caravan to cross the country without stopping.

“I don’t have anything against the migrants – they were the most deceived, but this is affecting us all,” he said.

The migrants are also receiving support from local churches in Tijuana as well as from volunteers and private citizens, who are providing food.

Mexico’s Baja California state government is also on hand and said that 7,000 job openings had been identified for migrants who qualify.

It is uncertain whether many of the migrants will qualify for asylum in the US.

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The Trump administration has spent weeks lambasting the caravan, which it said was filled with criminals, gang members and even – it insinuated at one point without any proof – terrorists.

Mr Trump also threatened on Thursday to shut down the border if his administration determined Mexico had lost “control” of the situation in Tijuana.

Some of the migrants have been left disheartened and exhausted after their journey.

Adelaida Gonzalez, who is from Guatemala City, arrived in Tijuana three days ago.

She said she was considering Mexico’s offer to stay in the country and work as a refugee.

“We would not have risked coming if we had known it was going to be this hard,” she said.