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TThe senior border police chief in San Diego, California, said on Monday that his federal agents were to use tear gas against members of a group of migrants because they had assaulted members of the forces. of order while attempting to cross the barrier.
"When the threat comes down on our staff or to protect others, you have to do what you have to do," CNSC chief patrol officer Rodney Scott told CNN about the migrants' attempt to storm the border near the port of entry of San Ysidro. "What we saw and repeated yesterday is that the group, the caravan as we call them, would push women and children to the fore, and then start toppling our agents."
"The group immediately started throwing stones and debris on our agents, provoking the agents, and once our agents were attacked and their numbers increased, we had two or three agents at a time, facing Hundreds of people at once, tear gas to protect themselves and to protect the border, "Scott said.
Of the approximately 5,800 active-duty troops deployed at the border, none were on the front lines, Scott said.
The main regional border patrol officer said his staff had responded to the attacks by targeting the instigators, not bystanders, adding that people nearby would have been affected by deterrents such as tear gas.
The photos taken by reporters at the scene on Sunday showed officers tearing at an opening in the wall where people had tried to sneak between them and pass through, while others stood by of these by throwing stones directed towards the north of the wall.
The area is replacing a six-foot-high metal fence with an 18-foot-high bollard style wall. Because of the construction, the areas between old and new barriers are easier to cross.
The US Department of Homeland Security estimated last week that 6,000 Central American migrants who came to Mexico as part of a caravan were in Tijuana. The border patrol closed the port of San Ysidro last week because of reports that some members of the group planned to cross the port of entry without being inspected by customs and border protection officials, which is illegal.
Scott said the people involved in Sunday's outbreak could have asked for asylum but have chosen to attempt an intrusion.
"If they were really asylum seekers, they would have surrendered with their hands and surrendered themselves," Scott said.
"What I saw yesterday at the border, they are not people who approached border patrol agents and asked to apply for asylum," Scott said.
According to the Border Patrol, three officers were hit by stones, but their tactical equipment protected them from serious injury. "Some" government vehicles were also damaged. Forty-two people were arrested for their illegal entry into the United States, most of whom were adult men.
Scott said that CBP did not intend to increase the number of officers accepting asylum applications in San Ysidro, which is the country's largest border post and sees 100,000 people per day.
"Any additional resources we allocate to the treatment of asylum seekers literally slows down the US economy.It slows down people who are legitimately crossing our borders, including international airports," Scott said. "We are constantly receiving complaints with lines such as they are – we just have limited resources."
CBP, responsible for all port activities, closed the port of entry of San Ysidro late Sunday morning to Sunday in the middle of the afternoon.
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