San Diego Tribune by Lyndsay Winkley, Lyndsay Winkley and Mike Freeman 11/25/2018
The U.S.-Mexico border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry was closed in both directions for more than five hours on Sunday after hundreds of migrants rushed the area, prompting federal authorities to launch tear gas in an apparent attempt to get the group to disperse.
The confrontation highlights the escalating tensions along the border as thousands of migrants from Central America poured into Tijuana in recent weeks seeking asylum to enter the U.S. President Trump has pushed to keep any migrants in Mexico as they await the immigration process.
Following Sunday’s events, the Mexican interior Ministry announced it would deport about 500 migrants who tried to “violently†and “illegally†cross the border. A Mexican federal police officer told the Union-Tribune that authorities were reviewing videotape of the confrontations at the border and would be detaining and deporting those involved.
The statement added that Mexican authorities had contained the protest at the crossing between Tijuana and San Diego and that, despite heightened tensions there, Mexico would not send military forces to control 7,417 migrants from a caravan currently amassed at the U.S.-Mexico border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials closed all vehicle and pedestrian crossings around 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
The pedestrian crossings were first to reopen about 3:45 p.m., followed by southbound freeway lanes and northbound vehicle processing lanes at 5 p.m.
The San Ysidro border crossing is one of the busiest ports of entry in the world, with more than 90,000 people crossing between San Diego and Tijuana on a daily basis, and the closures snarled traffic for miles in the area.
Ports of entry in Otay Mesa and Tecate remained open.
Migrants began marching from their shelter at the Benito Juarez sports complex, an open-air sports arena turned makeshift shelter, to Mexico's El Chaparral border crossing Sunday morning.
Around 11:20 a.m., the group clashed with Mexican federal police in riot gear before rushing past authorities and through a concrete canal to an area of the border near the San Ysidro pedestrian bridge.
One of the Mexican officers trying to keep migrants from the area got into a scuffle and appeared to suffer a cut lip.
A number of tear-gas canisters were launched into the canal in an apparent attempt to get migrants to disperse, witnesses said.
More:
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/sd-me-border-closer-20181125-story.html
