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LGBT asylum seekers reach border with U.S.

They are the first from migrant caravan coming from Central America

By Sarah Kinosian and Joshua Partlow, Sarah Kinosian and Joshua Partlow, The Washington Post
Published: November 13, 2018, 9:03pm

TIJUANA, Mexico — The front line of what President Donald Trump calls a migrant “invasion” has arrived at the U.S. border — dozens of lesbian, gay and transsexual asylum seekers from Central America.

The group has taken up shelter in a rented home in Tijuana, where they played Ariana Grande music Monday night as they sorted through donated clothes, drank strawberry-banana juice and discussed how the asylum process might play out.

“I cannot believe we actually made it here to the border,” said Andy Albaringa, 23, a trans woman from El Salvador. “The trip was so tiring.”

Small groups have split off from the main Central American caravan moving north through Mexico, and they are made up of people fleeing an array of dangers and difficulties: Guatemalans leaving behind poverty, Hondurans escaping gang violence, Nicaraguans running from a harsh political crackdown. The groups have also become a refuge for those persecuted because of their sexual orientation.

For them, the day-to-day strain of traveling thousands of miles by foot and hitchhiking has been compounded by occasional harassment from other travelers, according to those in this LGBT group who arrived in Tijuana by bus from Mexico City earlier this week.

The bulk of the caravan remains far from the border, in cities such as Guadalajara and Culiacan in western Mexico.

As the first migrants trickle into Tijuana, U.S. border authorities say they are “hardening” this crossing into San Diego “in preparation for the migrant caravan and the potential safety and security risk that it could cause.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that it is closing four lanes at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa border crossings — some of the most heavily traveled ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border. The statement added that U.S. troops are putting up concertina wire, barricades and fencing.

A second group of 360 migrants made it to Tijuana on Tuesday morning. They were served breakfast, and then they walked toward the beach looking for a place where the group could stay.

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