On Sunday, hundreds of Central American migrants currently staying in Tijuana stormed the U.S. border hoping to enter the country illegally. However, they did not get away with their violent and unlawful acts. When they returned to camp, Mexican authorities had a nasty surprise waiting for them.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection in San Diego, California announced on Sunday morning that the San Ysidro port of entry going both northbound and southbound had been closed due to multiple planned demonstrations on both sides of the border. Additional personnel and resources were also deployed to the port of entry, and it’s a good thing, considering what unfolded the very same day.
Roughly 5,000 migrants were camped out in Tijuana as of this weekend hoping to enter the U.S. one way or another. On Sunday, they apparently got tired of waiting to do so legally. Hundreds pushed past Mexican riot police and rushed toward the U.S. border in an attempt to infiltrate the United States.
Hundreds try to storm the border. Expect significant US response #tijuana pic.twitter.com/0T50XUnXtY
— emma murphy (@emmamurphyitv) November 25, 2018
A few hundred migrants — most of them young men — rushed toward the border throwing rocks and other projectiles at Border Patrol agents. Some climbed the first fence that stood in their way and were about to climb the second when they were repelled by tear gas from the U.S. side:
Hundreds of migrants approaching the U.S. border from Mexico were enveloped with tear gas Sunday after several tried to make it past fencing and wire separating the two countries.
Earlier in the morning, a group of Central Americans staged a peaceful march to appeal for the U.S. to speed up the asylum claims process, but their demonstration devolved as they neared the crossing with the U.S. and some saw an opportunity to breach the border.
U.S. agents shot several rounds of gas, according to an Associated Press reporter on the scene, after migrants attempted to penetrate several points along the border. Migrants sought to squeeze through gaps in wire, climb over fences and peel back metal sheeting to enter. [Source: AFP]
The tear gas is not all that these criminals will have to deal with, though. When they returned from their failed attempt, they learned that Mexico intends to deport them. The group has already been “rounded up,” according to reports, and will be shipped back to their home countries in short order.
Mexico will deport Central American migrants who attempted to storm the US border, its interior ministry said. The group, part of the migrant caravan heading towards the US from Central America, was rounded up after trying to cross the border “violently” and “illegally” on Sunday. [Source: BBC]
Moreover, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen issued a statement Sunday afternoon condemning the “lawlessness” displayed and promising to prosecute “to the fullest extent of the law anyone who destroys federal property, endangers our frontline operators, or violates our nation’s sovereignty”:
This morning, CBP was forced to close the San Ysidro Port of Entry to ensure public safety in response to large numbers of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. illegally. After being prevented from entering the Port of Entry, some of these migrants attempted to breach legacy fence infrastructure along the border and sought to harm CBP personnel by throwing projectiles at them.
As I have continually stated, DHS will not tolerate this type of lawlessness and will not hesitate to shut down ports of entry for security and public safety reasons. We will also seek to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who destroys federal property, endangers our frontline operators, or violates our nation’s sovereignty.
CBP, along with other DHS law enforcement, federal law enforcement, the U.S. military and state and local law enforcement, will continue to have a robust presence along the Southwest Border and at our ports of entry to prevent illegal entry or violence. We continue to stay in close contact with Mexican authorities and we remain committed to resolving this situation safely in concert with our Mexican partners.
Quite frankly, these migrants have picked a fight they cannot win. They will not make it across the border — the Trump administration has made sure of that — and the ones who try will be sent packing.
