Migrant groups plan to rush the border, block ports of entry in February

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) -- Several migrant advocates in Baja California are calling for mass border crossings and blockades at ports of entry from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas to put pressure on the U.S. to allow more asylum-seekers into the country in the coming months.

The groups are threatening to have large groups of migrants "hop the border fence," on Feb. 2, one organizer told reporters in Tijuana earlier this week.

"If we don't have a resolution by Feb. 2, we're going to convene blockades from Tijuana all the way to Matamoros," said Sergio Tamai, director of the Ángeles Sin Fronteras shelter. "And we're going to hop the fence and rush the border as a symbolic gesture."

Tamai said he knows many migrants who take part will be stopped and returned to Mexico, but it's something he is willing to risk if some do make it across the border.

"This is our way of telling the United States, 'Do you want this?'" Tamai said. "Do they want us to organize this mass illegal crossing?"

Tamai stated this demonstration is also aimed at the Mexican government for not supporting migrants in their quest to get north of the border.

"Both governments could make it so much easier for the migrants if they wanted."

Tamai added that if both governments took care of migrants, they wouldn't fall prey to "bad actors who control the border."

"There are so many people who take advantage of the situation and the migrants, that's why there needs to be a more organized system that allows people more opportunities to cross the border."

Tamai warned that unless something changes, he and others will continue with their plans to form blockades and mass crossings at ports of entry and in areas along the border boundary.