Several hundred Central American migrants stormed the international border crossing between Tijuana and California to pressure the US into hearing their asylum claims.
US agents have shot tear gas at migrants following clashes at the border, the Associated Press reported.
The migrants tried to protect themselves by covering their faces, with mothers holding their children close.
Several migrants turned back amid the stinging gas as others forged ahead.
The migrants, mostly from Honduras, carried hand-painted American and Honduran flags, chanting: “We are not criminals! We are international workers!”
Some were seen scrambling up railway sidings in an attempt to reach the US border – with many young children at the centre of the mayhem.
Dozens of Mexican police with plastic riot shields stopped the migrants well ahead of the crossing on Sunday.
US military helicopters have been hovering over the Mexican side of the border, while US agents held vigil on foot beyond the wire fence in California.
The Border Patrol in San Diego said that pedestrian crossings have been suspended at the San Ysidro port of entry at both the east and west facilities.
More than 5,000 migrants are camped in and around a sports complex in Tijuana after making their way through Mexico in recent weeks in a caravan.
Many are hoping to apply for asylum in the US – but agents at the San Ysidro entry point are processing fewer than 100 asylum petitions a day.
Some of the migrants who went forward on Sunday called on each other to remain peaceful.
They appeared to pass through the Mexican police blockade with ease without using violence.
A second line of Mexican police carrying plastic riot shields stood guard outside a Mexican customs and immigration plaza, where the migrants were headed.
Irineo Mujica, who has accompanied the migrants as part of the aid group Pueblo Sin Fronteras, said the aim of Sunday’s march was to make the migrants’ plight more visible to the governments of Mexico and the US.
“We can’t have all these people here,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that the large group of migrants heading for the US included criminals and possibly terrorists – though there is no evidence to support that.
He has deployed around 9,000 US troops along the border in support of the CBP agents.
Mexico’s incoming government has denied a report that it plans to allow asylum seekers to wait in the country while their claims move through US immigration courts.
“There is no agreement of any sort between the incoming Mexican government and the US government,” Mexico’s future interior minister Olga Sanchez said in a statement.
More follows…
Source: Read Full Article