U.S. Border Patrol fired tear gas on families at the border—and this is what you need to know
Over the past two years, the Trump administration has repeatedly attempted to demonize immigrants attempting to enter the United States. Efforts to paint immigrants as enemies of the state even led the federal government to separate migrant families at the border earlier this year. And now, tensions have once again escalated, with U.S. Border Patrol agents reportedly firing tear gas at nearly 500 migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
NBC News reports that at about 11:30 a.m. on November 25th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection closed the San Ysidro Port of Entry located on the border of San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico. The shutdown came after hundreds of migrants gathered on the Tijuana side of the border. Later, when the assembled crowd attempted to break through the barricade at the border, U.S. Border Patrol agents fired tear gas at them. Some of the migrants told NBC that they only tried to cross the border after being denied access to the port of entry, where they could have claimed asylum.
Journalists captured video of the tear gas, showing people—including children and parents—screaming and running.
U.S. border agents fired tear gas on hundreds of migrants protesting near the border with Mexico Sunday after some tried to get through the fencing and wire separating the two countries.
In this footage, people can be heard screaming as they flee the gas. https://t.co/fXqaMPz9r2 pic.twitter.com/jQlB8Y8eQ6
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 26, 2018
Customs and Border Protection told NBC News that no injuries were reported. On Twitter, the agency wrote that “several migrants threw projectiles” at Border Patrol agents, who then used tear gas “because of the risk to the agents’ safety.”
Today, several migrants threw projectiles at the agents in San Diego. Border Patrol agents deployed tear gas to dispel the group because of the risk to agents' safety. Several agents were hit by the projectiles. The situation is evolving and a statement is forthcoming.
— CBP (@CBP) November 25, 2018
In a Twitter statement, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen called the migrants’ actions “dangerous & not consistent w[ith] peacefully seeking asylum.”
"@DHSgov will not tolerate this type of lawlessness and will not hesitate to shut down [ports of entry] for security and public safety reasons," she tweeted. "We'll seek to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who destroys federal property, endangers our frontline operators, or violates our sovereignty."
.@DHSgov will not tolerate this type of lawlessness & will not hesitate to shut down POEs for security reasons. We'll seek to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who destroys federal property, endangers our frontline operators, or violates our sovereignty.
— Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen (@SecNielsen) November 26, 2018
Today @CBP personnel were struck by projectiles thrown by caravan members. Such actions are dangerous & not consistent w peacefully seeking asylum. The perpetrators will be prosecuted. I will continue to aggressively support DHS personnel as they work to safely secure our border.
— Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen (@SecNielsen) November 26, 2018
In recent months, President Donald Trump has escalated tensions at the border and even encouraged violence on the part of U.S. officials. According to CNN, the president has sent nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border so far, and on November 22nd, he announced that he had given these troops permission to “use lethal force” on migrants if deemed necessary.
On November 26th, Trump reacted to the chaos of the previous day by tweeting that many of the Mexican migrants involved were “stone cold criminals” and called for Congress to fund his proposed border wall.
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/1067015026995879937
This latest attack on immigrants seeking asylum is both despicable and inhumane, and we’ll be watching to see how the story unfolds.
