A Thursday downpour in Tijuana forced some migrants to flee from a muddy, overcrowded outdoor shelter into an indoor facility 11 miles further south of the border.
Federal Mexican authorities started transporting migrants about 6 p.m. Thursday from the city-owned Benito Juarez Sports Complex to the new facility, a vacant roofed sports complex called El Barretal, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
But fewer than 500 of the 6,000 people staying in the overcrowded outdoor shelter elected to leave. The shelter is currently at double its capacity.
Located on the outskirts of Tijuana, El Barretal is 30 minutes away from the outdoor shelter, in the Mariano Matamoros neighborhood.
Conditions at Benito Juarez are bad with reports of serious illness, food shortages and a lice infestation on top of the pouring rain. Parents struggled overnight to keep their sleeping children dry.
But despite the mud-soaked conditions, wet blankets and bedding, some decided not to risk splitting with family to board the buses to move to an enclosed shelter.
The National Commission for Human Rights in Mexico urged migrants to voluntarily transfer to the new facility, telling them the sports complex includes electricity and fewer restrictions.
After traveling more that 2,000 miles from their homes in Central America, some simply did not want to move again.
"We're better off suffering here," Samuel Roman, 22, of Honduras told The San Diego Union-Tribune. "We came all this way and don't want to go backwards. They want us away from the border."
Two other Hondurans, Carlos Hernandez and Rico Marquez, decided to transfer to reportedly better conditions.
"Everything in there is wet," Hernandez said. "My girl has a cold and a fever she's sick. I don't want to be wet anymore."
Leonel Acosta, 20, also from Honduras, got on the bus with his brother. "It's better than being wet," he said.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported some people bought wooden pallets to use as mattresses on Wednesday to stave off the predicted rain. Many have developed respiratory infections and coughs from the cold, mid-50-degree nights.
One woman who requested anonymity because her family is fleeing gang violence in Honduras said she, her husband and their three children all have colds.
"We are so wet," she said. "We are so worried. Adults can handle difficult things, but not children," she said. "They suffer the most."
On top of the muddy, crowded and unsanitary conditions at the outdoor shelter, some migrants have run out of money. Food lines and bathroom lines are exceedingly long.
"The food lines are long and sometimes when you get to the front they run out of food," said Cristian Israel Partillo, 24, from El Salvador.
Earlier Thursday, a small group started marching to Mexican Immigrant offices near the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Reportedly, the group hoped to convince Mexican officials to speed up the asylum process, issue temporary humanitarian visas more quickly, urge the U.S. government to accept more daily asylum claims and convince Mexican police to stop deporting caravan members.
A blockade of police turned back the marchers after a block. CNN reports that it could be weeks or—even months—before any of them have the opportunity to cross the border and make their case for asylum.
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