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MEXICO-MIGRANTS-US
Tear gas fired as dozens of migrants try illegal crossing to US
TIJUANA, Mexico, Jan 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US Border Patrol agents used tear
gas and pepper spray to counter rock-throwing migrants when a group of about
150 tried to illegally cross the border from Mexico, leading to 25 arrests,
the agency said on Tuesday.
It is the second time since November that border officers have used tear
gas during an attempted mass migrant crossing in the San Diego area.
The migrants in the latest case New Year’s Eve were among 1,500 who have
remained in Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego, California, after a
once-5,000-strong caravan of travelers — which raised the ire of President
Donald Trump — largely gave up and dispersed.
An AFP journalist reported the crowd size at about 100 and observed the
group of Central Americans gathering around 8:00 pm Monday night (0400 GMT
Tuesday) in an area called Playas de Tijuana on the Pacific coast, often used
by migrants as a departure point for attempts to sneak across the border.
There, the border is marked with fencing and a large vertical plate that
juts out into the water. On the other side of it, US border agents were seen
mobilizing.
As night fell and people on both sides of the frontier prepared to
celebrate New Year’s Eve, the migrants tried to cross over but at least two
smoke bombs were fired and they were ultimately held back.
Those who tried to cross included adult men, women with small children and
adolescents.
After that attempt, part of the group stayed near the border and other
Central Americans arrived to join them.
Shortly after the New Year began, dozens of migrants stood on a hill from
which they could see US border agents, who watched them closely.
When people in this group rushed the border in a second incident, US
authorities fired tear gas to disperse them, an AFP photographer observed.
In a statement, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said an initial
group of 45 migrants turned back towards Mexico, due to the increased
presence of Border Patrol agents. Shortly after, migrants began throwing
rocks over the fence at CBP officers.
“Several teenagers, wrapped in heavy jackets, blankets and rubber mats
were put over the concertina wire. Border Patrol agents witnessed members of
the group attempt to lift toddler-sized children up and over the concertina
wire and having difficulty accomplishing the task in a safe manner,” CBP
said.
It added that agents could not assist the children “due to the large
number of rocks being thrown at them.”
– ‘Minimum force’ –
Agents used smoke, pepper spray and tear gas “to address the rock throwers
assaulting agents and risking the safety of migrants attempting to cross who
were already on the US side,” CBP said.
“The rock throwers were located south of the fence, in an elevated
position both above the border fence area and the incursion attempt.”
Most of the migrants returned to Mexico using a hole under the fence or by
climbing over it, CBP said, adding 25 people including two teenage migrants
were detained.
Agents “used the minimum force necessary,” Katie Waldman, a spokeswoman
for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement.
In late November, also in the Tijuana area, US border officers used tear
gas and rubber bullets when about 500 men, women and children scrambled over
a rusted metal fence and surged into a concrete riverbed before they
encountered a second fence.
Rights groups raised questions over the use of force, in which at least
one man was wounded. CBP said 42 people were arrested on the US side.
The migrants in both cases were part of a caravan that left Central
America in October and traveled 4,300 kilometers (2,600 miles) to Tijuana in
the hope of reaching the US and requesting asylum. Many were fleeing gang
violence and poverty.
They arrived in Tijuana in early November and today about 1,500 still
remain. The rest asked to be transported back home or dispersed to other
parts of Mexico.
Trump used the caravan to stir up fear of immigrants as he pressed his
drive to build a wall on the border. He has also made it harder for people to
request asylum at the frontier.
An impasse with legislators over funding for his border wall project is
behind a partial shutdown of US government services which is now in its
second week.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1040 hrs