On November 25th, US authorities shut the country’s busiest border crossing, the one to Mexico and fired tear gas to repel Central American migrants.
“Border Patrol agents deployed tear gas to dispel the group because of the risk to agents’ safety,” a statement by US Customs and Border Protection said.
This follows President Donald Trump’s vow that asylum-seekers would not be allowed to easily enter the country.
The closing was caused by a group of migrants who rushed the border area.
About 500 migrants on the Mexican side of the border overwhelmed police blockades near the San Ysidro Port of Entry Sunday afternoon, according to two journalists in Tijuana, cited by CNN.
Video of the scene showed a cloud of tear gas that sent people running and screaming, including families with young children. Footage from the Associated Press show the way the situation devolved and how US authorities shot tear gas at the migrants who were trying to rush past.
Mexico’s Milenio TV showed images of migrants climbing over fences and peeling back metal sheeting to enter.
Tensions along the border had been rising for the past several days, after the thousands of Central American migrants were camped out in a sports stadium in Tijuana, Mexico. Mexican police, on November 25th, broke up the latest of the daily protests, which led to the rush toward the US border.
The Mexican government said it had retaken control of the border crossing after nearly 500 migrants tried to cross the US border “in a violent manner,” and vowed to immediately deport Central Americans who attempt to enter the United States illegally.
Trump has openly spoken against the caravan of Central American migrants for weeks. Most of the asylum-seekers are from Honduras and they are fleeing poverty and violence and claimed they would simply wait until the US would allow them to enter the country, despite the tightening border.
Trump also deployed military forces along the border and on November 24th threatened to close the entire southern US border. Military police were sent to the border crossing and military engineers moved barricades as part of the enforcement, the U.S. Northern Command said in a statement on November 25th.
“Department of Defense military personnel will not be conducting law enforcement functions, but are authorized to provide force protection for Customs and Border Protection personnel,” the statement said.
On November 20th, John Kelly, the White House Chief of Staff signed a memo allowing the US troops stationed at the border to use lethal force, if necessary, to stop illegal migrants. The memo could be an illegal use of troops as law enforcement.
“…they are fleeing poverty and violence….”
That is a load of shit.
“Nowhere are you more likely to be killed for standing up to companies that grab land and trash the environment than in Honduras.” Even the normally measured Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has gone so far as to label Honduras a country where “corruption is the operating system” and “repression is carefully targeted for maximum psychological effect.”
The place was no picnic, but after the US ousted Zelaya it went from bad to much worse. If I lived there I’d be trying to get into the US as well – its the only way to be safe from US-backed paras or Benning alumni.
Well the US reaped what it sowed then.
In a way yes. I have friends in landscaping and construction complaining of how cheaply even the legal immigrants from C America work. Is difficult to explain that subsidized Ag drove many Mexicans off their land and US policy across Central and S America turn countries that otherwise might not be bad places to live into hell holes.
Honduras is the poster child – the biggest US military base in C America and the rise in US military cooperation mirrors the increase in repression the people live under. As with Colombia, the political opposition or folks agitating for basic rights are simply killed until the majority of the population has no political voice and no protection under the law.
This is the model that will be exported eventually to the USA proper as the dollar collapses.
Next time you buy del monte bananas think about it.
But thats fine! Del monte just came there to enrich their culture and find jobs!
Chiquita is no better, I’ll take a bag of apples instead.
I dunno costa rica seems much better off. Supposedly it would be under the same conditions as honduras.
Maybe shitty people make shit hole countries and get the shitty treatment from great powers.
Makes perfect sense, Costa Rica doesn’t host any US military bases and has no military with which the elected government can be overthrown following their indoctrination at Fort Benning.
Not to mention their exports are modest and their locals aren’t agitating for land reform yet. Give it time, Costa Rica is getting into hot water with their Govt finances and soon enough the IMF will make them an offer they can’t refuse. Followed by a US base, needed to combat narcotics, commies, liberation theologists, security on the loan…
Its an organized assault by the globalists to degrade national sovereignty.
And its stupid. Basically theyre saying the centuries of imperialism was good for them because its ok to just walk in anywhere and declare this is where well now live and who cares whos here already.
US border patrol defended the border.
For the first long while they deployed smoke. Eventually both the Mexican side and the US border patrol deployed tear gas against the hard core intruders.
The US army did not engage.