We never thought they were going to fire bombs where there were children.”
After travelling north from Honduras and spending a week in the Mexican border town of Tijuana, Maria Meza, 35, set out on Sunday with her five children to claim asylum at the United States border crossing.
Three tear gas canisters shot from the US side landed around Meza and her children, she said in an interview at a Tijuana migrant shelter. “The first thing I did was grab my children,” said Meza. I was scared, and I thought I was going to die with them because of the gas,” said Meza. Her young son James nearly fainted when a canister landed near him. Meza fell and struggled to get up amidst the gas. A young man gave her his hand and pulled her to her feet. “We never thought they were going to fire these bombs where there were children, because there were lots of children,” said Meza. “It wasn’t right, they know we are human beings, the same as them,” said Meza.
“I came here for one reason, and that’s because there is a lot of violence in Honduras,” said Meza, as her children played with empty tear gas canisters shot by the Border Patrol. The US shut the crossing for several hours on Sunday.