Migrants arrested on both sides of US-Mexico border after desperate attempt to cross

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Migrants arrested on both sides of US-Mexico border after desperate attempt to cross

Mexico says it has deported some migrants who stormed the U.S. border Sunday, and the U.S. says it’s arrested those who made it across. 

The attempt to enter the U.S. prompted agents to fire tear gas across the border into Mexico, triggering more controversy over how the Trump Administration is handling the crisis. 

CGTN’s Phil Lavelle reports.

They are desperate to get across. The Trump administration, desperate to stop them at the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday.

At a major crossing at San Ysidro, near San Diego, would-be asylum seekers threw projectiles over the border wall. Some tried to make a run for it and get across. 

U.S. border guards responded with tear gas and cars backed up for several kilometers as officials closed this busy crossing.  Washington refusing to give way, defending its response.

Homeland Security Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen tweeting that her department, “will not tolerate this type of lawlessness & will not hesitate to shut down POEs [points of entry] for security reasons. We’ll seek to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who destroys federal property, endangers our frontline operators, or violates our sovereignty.”

U.S. President, Donald Trump even more direct, adding: “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!”

That wall, a key – if controversial – election pledge of his. The day had begun peacefully with thousands of migrants in the Mexican border town of Tijuana. 

They’re part of several caravans of people, desperate to be admitted into the United States, traveling for weeks from Central American countries – mainly Honduras. 

Earlier this month, as the first migrants arrived, some climbed onto the existing wall to taunt border guards. Officials closed down the crossing then too while they installed razor wire and concrete blocks to make it more difficult to breach.

And now, many in Mexico are said to be growing angry over the migrants’ presence. Reports of fights breaking out with locals, unrest with police. 

The Mexican government saying more than three dozen migrants were arrested this weekend, and promising to deport those who tried to rush the U.S. border. 

Mexican officials claim to have sent more than 11,000 home over the past month and say total deportations to Central America for the year are expected to hit 100,000.

But migrants keep arriving. They say they have nowhere else to go. And they pray that the U.S. will let them in. 

Washington is insisting it will hear asylum cases, but only of those who follow the legal routes to and across the border.