US agents fire tear gas and rubber bullets at hundreds of migrants

Showdown at the border: US agents fire tear gas and rubber bullets at hundreds of migrants who try to storm the border fence and force authorities to shut the crossing down

  • The Mexican border was closed Sunday at the San Ysidro Port of Entry after migrants in the border town of Tijuana stormed the area 
  • Mexican television showed images of several migrants at the border trying to jump over the fence 
  • U.S. Border Patrol helicopters flew overhead, while U.S. agents held vigil on foot beyond the wire fence in California 

Migrants approaching the U.S. border from Mexico were enveloped with tear gas Sunday after a few tried to breach the fence separating the two countries.

U.S. agents shot the gas, according to an Associated Press reporter on the scene. Children were screaming and coughing in the mayhem.

Honduran migrant Ana Zuniga, 23, said she saw migrants open a small hole in concertina wire at a gap on the Mexican side of a levee, at which point U.S. agents fired tear gas at them.

‘We ran, but when you run the gas asphyxiates you more,’ she told the AP while cradling her 3-year-old daughter Valery in her arms.

Mexico’s Milenio TV also showed images of several migrants at the border trying to jump over the fence. 

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    A migrant family, part of a caravan of thousands traveling from Central America en route to the United States, run away from tear gas in front of the border wall between the U.S and Mexico in Tijuana on Sunday

    A migrant girl from Honduras, part of a caravan of thousands traveling from Central America en route to the United States, cries after running away from tear gas in Tijuana on Sunday

    U.S. Border Patrol helicopters flew overhead, while U.S. agents held vigil on foot beyond the wire fence in California

    U.S. agents shot the gas, according to an Associated Press reporter on the scene. Children were screaming and coughing in the mayhem

    A migrant, with his face covered, runs from tear gas thrown by the U.S Border Patrol agents

    The Border Patrol office in San Diego said via Twitter that pedestrian crossings have been suspended at the San Ysidro port of entry at both the East and West facilities

    Earlier Sunday, several hundred Central American migrants pushed past a blockade of Mexican police who were standing guard near the international border crossing

    Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum on Friday declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city of 1.6 million, which he says is struggling to accommodate the crush of migrants

    Three Honduran migrants huddle in the riverbank amid tear gas fired by U.S. agents on the Mexico-U.S. border 

    More than 5,000 migrants have been camped in and around a sports complex in Tijuana after making their way through Mexico in recent weeks via caravan

    People attempting to cross in the U.S. look on as the San Ysidro port of entry stands closed at the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday

    Officials run in a staging area in the San Ysidro port of entry on Sunday

    Mexico’s Federal Police officers are seen through the smoke of tear gas thrown by the US Border Patrol to disperse Central American migrants

    Yards away on the U.S. side, shoppers streamed in and out of an outlet mall.

    U.S. Border Patrol helicopters flew overhead, while U.S. agents held vigil on foot beyond the wire fence in California. 


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    The Border Patrol office in San Diego said via Twitter that pedestrian crossings have been suspended at the San Ysidro port of entry at both the East and West facilities.

    All northbound and southbound traffic was halted.

    Earlier Sunday, several hundred Central American migrants pushed past a blockade of Mexican police who were standing guard near the international border crossing.

    They appeared to easily pass through without using violence, and some of the migrants called on each other to remain peaceful.

    They convened the demonstration to try to pressure the U.S to hear their asylum claims and carried hand-painted American and Honduran flags while chanting: ‘We are not criminals! We are international workers!’

    A second line of Mexican police carrying plastic riot shields stood guard outside a Mexican customs and immigration plaza.

    Migrants cross the river at the Mexico-U.S. border after pushing past a line of Mexican police at the Chaparral crossing in Tijuana on Sunday

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers walks along a wall at the border between Mexico and the United States, as seen from San Diego

    A migrant waves a Honduran flag as U.S. border patrol agents stand guard, seen at left through the fence

    Migrants peer through the border wall after pushing past Mexican police at the Chaparral crossing in Tijuana

    A person walks at the San Diego Outlets mall that sits near the U.S.- Mexico border wall in San Diego

    Migrants move up a riverbank at the Mexico-U.S. border after getting past a line of Mexican police at the Chaparral border crossing

    U.S. border agents stand guard a the Mexico-U.S. border after migrants pushed past Mexican police at the Chaparral crossing

    The shadows of migrants are cast on the railroad tracks at the Mexico-U.S. border in Tijuana

    A Central American migrant wrapped in a US flag looks at the almost dry riverbed of the Tijuana River near the El Chaparral border

    An official walks along the empty lanes of Interstate 5, where it reaches the San Ysidro port of entry, after closing the port Sunday

    The mayor of Tijuana has declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city and says that he has asked the United Nations for aid to deal with the approximately 5,000 Central American migrants who have arrived in the city

    A large group of migrants gather in Tijuana to try to cross the El Chaparral border crossing on Sunday

    Mexico’s Interior Ministry said Sunday the country has sent 11,000 Central Americans back to their countries of origin since Oct. 19. It said that 1,906 of them were members of the recent caravans

    Mexico is on track to send a total of around 100,000 Central Americans back home by the end of this year

    Irineo Mujica, who has accompanied the migrants for weeks as part of the aid group Pueblo Sin Fronteras, said the aim of Sunday’s march toward the U.S. border was to make the migrants’ plight more visible to the governments of Mexico and the U.S.

    Many hope to apply for asylum in the U.S., but agents at the San Ysidro entry point are processing fewer than 100 asylum petitions a day

    That line of police had installed tall steel panels behind them outside the Chaparral crossing on the Mexican side of the border.

    Migrants were asked by police to turn back toward Mexico.

    More than 5,000 migrants have been camped in and around a sports complex in Tijuana after making their way through Mexico in recent weeks via caravan. 

    Many hope to apply for asylum in the U.S., but agents at the San Ysidro entry point are processing fewer than 100 asylum petitions a day.

    Irineo Mujica, who has accompanied the migrants for weeks as part of the aid group Pueblo Sin Fronteras, said the aim of Sunday’s march toward the U.S. border was to make the migrants’ plight more visible to the governments of Mexico and the U.S.

    ‘We can’t have all these people here,’ Mujica told The Associated Press.

    Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum on Friday declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city of 1.6 million, which he says is struggling to accommodate the crush of migrants.

    U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter Sunday to express his displeasure with the caravans in Mexico.

    ‘Would be very SMART if Mexico would stop the Caravans long before they get to our Southern Border, or if originating countries would not let them form (it is a way they get certain people out of their country and dump in U.S. No longer),’ he wrote.

    Mexico’s Interior Ministry said Sunday the country has sent 11,000 Central Americans back to their countries of origin since Oct. 19. It said that 1,906 of them were members of the recent caravans.

    Mexico is on track to send a total of around 100,000 Central Americans back home by the end of this year. 

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