Showdown at Mexican border: US agents fire tear gas at migrants

The United States Customs and Border Protection closed the border between Tijuana in Mexico and San Diego in California and used tear gas on migrants and refugees, including children, whoever tried to cross the border fence.

The incident took place because of rising frustrations among immigrants due to slow processing of their asylum claims by the US authorities.

Thousands of immigrants have arrived at the US-Mexico border in the recent weeks from all over Central America, fleeing violence, poverty or political persecution in their countries.

Al Jazeera reported that more than 5,000 migrants and refugees have been cramped into a Tijuana stadium complex, near the Mexican border, that is more than 2,000 people over capacity.

In the previous week, Trump threatened to shut the US border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time, fearing the collective exodus of the refugees and deployed thousands of US military troops at the border, giving them expanded powers, including the use of force.

Here are glimpses of what happened at the border.

A migrant family from Honduras, part of a caravan of thousands traveling from Central America en route to the United States, runs from tear gas released by US border patrol near the fence between Mexico and the United States in Tijuana, Mexico. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

A migrant girl from Honduras, part of a caravan of thousands travelling from Central America en route to the United States, cries after running away from tear gas thrown by the US border control near the border wall. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Rosa Villa, 30, and her five-month-old son Esteban from Honduras, part of a caravan of thousands travelling from Central America en route to the United States, are pushed back from the border wall. Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

US soldiers and border patrols fire tear gas towards migrants, part of a caravan of thousands travelling from Central America. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Migrants, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America trying to reach the United States, run from tear gas released by border patrol. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

A migrant woman, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America trying to reach the United States, reacts as a group of border patrol officers detained her with along with others after entering the United States illegally by jumping over the border fence. Photograph: Jorge Duenes/Reuters

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