MEXICAN STANDOFF
Feds fire tear gas to hold off migrants at border
border agents shot rounds of tear gas into Mexico on Sunday, aiming at members of the migrant caravan approaching the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego.
About 500 people were demonstrating on the Mexican side of the border for the U.S. to speed asylum processing requests when some members of the group tried to climb over a border wall, and others tried to enter the U.S. through holes in a border fence.
Border Patrol agents in riot gear responded by firing tear gas across the border into Tijuana, Mexico. Winds pushed the tear gas hundreds of feet back into the bulk of the group, which included women and children.
“We ran but when you run the smoke smothers you more,” said 23-year-old Ana Zuniga, who tried to cross the border with her 3-year-old daughter, Valery.
Members of the caravan said at least two people were hurt in the fracas, including one child, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Several agents were hit by rocks and other projectiles thrown by the migrants.
The demonstration by caravan members — who are from Central America, mostly from Guatemala — angered Mexican officials.
“We will not allow our binational relationship to be broken by the bad behavior of the migrant caravan,” Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum said on Twitter.
He added that the caravan was violating the law, and that Tijuana residents who “work, study and visit the United States in peace” were affected when the border crossing was closed.
Pedestrian traffic at the San Ysidro crossing resumed late Sunday afternoon both northbound and southbound. Soon afterward, the border reopened to southbound vehicle traffic and eventually northbound as well.
The San Ysidro Land Port of Entry is the busiest in the Western Hemisphere, according to the U.S. General Services Administration, processing about 70,000 northbound vehicles and 20,000 northbound pedestrians daily.
Earlier Sunday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office shut down the crossing to both vehicle and foot traffic as the first group from the migrant caravan arrived and tried to legally enter the U.S.
“Due to the multiple planned demonstrations on both sides of the border, CBP