On Sunday, a video of migrants unsuccessfully attempting to storm the Southern border of the United States, went viral. The Central American migrants involved in the illegal activity will be deported by Mexico, according to its interior ministry, the BBC reported on Monday.
As noted in a column from Michael Graham at CBS News, the border situation “is so bad that Mexico’s interior department announced Sunday it will deport around 500 migrants because they ignored Mexican authorities and tried to cross the border ‘violently’ and ‘illegally.'”
Video footage shows scores of migrants breaking down portions of the border fence near the city of Tijuana and crawling through the open space. However, they were met with pepper spray and smoke pellets, according to The Epoch Times, and quickly dispersed. Some of the migrants threw rocks over the border fence, presumably to hit U.S. Border Patrol officers.
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The migrants have traveled roughly 2,500 miles from places like Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Arriving at the border, some chanted, “We are not criminals! We are international workers!” They also threw rocks, attempted to illegally cross the border, and forced authorities to close the San Ysidro Port of Entry for hours on end, notes Graham.
Carla Provost, chief of U.S. Border Patrol, told Fox News Monday that “our agents were being assaulted. A large group approached the area and they were throwing rocks and bottles at my men and women, putting them in harm’s way as well as other members of the caravan.'”
“DHS will not tolerate this type of lawlessness and will not hesitate to shut down ports of entry for security and public safety reasons,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen following the incident.
Though Democrats were supposedly outraged by the president “gassing” “asylum seekers,” using tear gas, or pepper spray to stop people from illegally crossing the border is mild practice that has been used during past administrations. In fact, this technique was used when former President Barak Obama was in office. In 2013, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, “A group of about 100 people trying to illegally cross the border Sunday near the San Ysidro port of entry threw rocks and bottles at U.S. Border Patrol agents, who responded by using pepper spray and other means to force the crowd back into Mexico.”
President Donald Trump has called on Mexico to act and has threatened to permanently close the border.
“Mexico should move the flag waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries. Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!” Trump wrote in a Twitter published on Monday.