Security heightens after border chaos
President Trump defends use of tear gas on migrants
TIJUANA, Mexico — Mexico looked set to shore up security near its border with the United States on Monday after a chaotic day when Central American migrants attempted to scale border fencing and U.S. authorities fired tear gas into Mexico.
Mexican security forces stepped up their presence at a Tijuana sports complex where thousands from the migrant caravan have been sheltered, apparently seeking to avoid a repeat of Sunday’s ugly scene. Police blocked the migrants from walking toward the border in the morning, though later on they allowed them to move about freely.
About 300 U.S. service members on the southern border have been shifted within the last few days from assignments in Arizona and Texas to work in California near where a caravan of migrants has arrived in Mexico, U.S. military officials said Monday.
The troops were reassigned in coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which asked for assistance from the Pentagon to prepare for the arrival of Central American migrants.
President Donald Trump on Monday defended the use of tear gas at the San Ysidro border crossing, saying that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents “had to use” the chemical agent in Sunday’s chaos and dismissed reports that children were among those affected.
“They’re not,” Trump said outside the White House when asked whether he was comfortable with the tear-gassing of children at the border. “They had to use (it) because they were being rushed by some very tough people. And they used tear gas. Here’s the bottom line: Nobody’s coming into our country unless they come in legally.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement that some of the migrants had “sought to harm CBP personnel by throwing projectiles at them.”
The decision to use tear gas sparked broad condemnation from Democrats and others.
“This is wrong,” former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 pres- idential campaign opponent, said in a Monday afternoon tweet.
Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also denounced the action, tweeting Sunday night: “Shooting tear gas at children is not who we are as Americans.”
Mexico’s National Migration Institute said that 98 migrants were being deported after they tried to breach the U.S. border, and U.S. agents fired tear gas into Mexico to stop them. Mexico’s Interior Department said about 500 migrants were involved in the attempt to rush the border, while U.S. authorities put the number at 1,000.
Mexican officials said the migrants had taken part in “violent” chaos, which originally began as a peaceful march to appeal for the U.S. to speed processing of asylum claims for Central American migrants marooned in Tijuana.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said on a call with reporters that 69 migrants who tried to cross the border illegally were arrested on the California side.
He said the Border Patrol’s use-of-force policy allows agents to use tear gas and other non-lethal methods, but the incident would be reviewed and the situation was resolved without serious injury.
“As the events unfolded, quick, decisive and effective action prevented an extremely dangerous situation,” he said.
Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department said it had presented a diplomatic note to the U.S. Embassy asking for an “exhaustive investigation” of the use of nonlethal force.
But on Monday, the incident had left many migrants sullen, wondering whether the unrest had spoiled whatever possibilities they might have had for making asylum cases.
Isauro Mejia, 46, from Cortes, Honduras, went looking for a cup of coffee to shake the morning chill following another night sleeping outside after being caught up in the clashes. Before, he had hoped to be able to press an asylum claim, but now he wasn’t so sure.
“The way things went yesterday I think there is no chance,” Mejia said. “With the difficulty that has presented itself because of yesterday’s incidents that’s further away.”
Migrants hoping to apply for asylum in the United States must put their names on a waiting list that already had about 3,000 people on it before the caravan arrived in Tijuana. With U.S. officials processing fewer than 100 claims a day, the wait time for the recent arrivals stands to take months.
Cindy Martinez of San Vicente, El Salvador, said she had been about to cross the concertina wire to the U.S. side when the tear gas was launched. She estimated about 20 people had already passed in front of her, and parents begged agents not to unleash the gas because there were young children present.
“I see it as impossible for them to want to give us asylum,” she said. “Because of the words that President Donald Trump has said, I think this is impossible.”
Martinez, 28, said she was now considering getting work in Tijuana.
In a rare criticism, Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission admonished migrants that they “should respect Mexican laws and not engage in actions that affect the communities they pass through.”
The Washington Post contributed.