To the strains of Ariana Grande, caravan of LGBT asylum seekers arrives at US border with Mexico
- Dozens of LGBT asylum seekers have arrived in Tijuana, the first wave from a the broader migrant caravan moving north through Mexico
The front line of what President Donald Trump calls a migrant “invasion” has arrived at the US 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.
We were discriminated against, even in the caravan. People wouldn’t let us into trucks, they made us get in the back of the line for showers, they would call us ugly names