TIJUANA (Border Report) — Many migrants in Tijuana are trying to gain access to shelters believing the facilities can clear the way for asylum, a migrant activist south of the border says.

At the Movimiento Juventud 2000 shelter, more than 100 migrants are said to be waiting in line and are camping out outside the facility.

The person in charge of the shelter and migrant activist José María García Lara says the rumor, about how his shelter and others offer a path to asylum in the United States, is false.

“We have tried to explain that lawyers are in charge of paperwork,” he said. “All we can do is reach out to attorneys and if they decide to show up, only they can help those at the facility.”

García Lara stated that as of now, there are about 5,000 migrants in shelters across Tijuana, a figure that has gone up in recent weeks.

“They believe that by being around the shelter, they can get asylum or humanitarian parole, which is not true … there’s a lot of misinformation out there,” he said.

García Lara put out a call to all levels of government to address the problems and help the migrants.

“We will perform our civic duty, we hope the three branches of government take care of the needs of our immigrant community because what is happening will just keep repeating itself,” he said.