U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers used tear gas to deter migrants attempting to reach the U.S. on Sunday before PresidentDonald Trumpthreatened to close the border altogether.
U.S. officials also closed a border crossing near San Diego for a few hours on Sunday.
Children were among the migrants who faced tear gas,CNNreported.
“We ran, but when you run the gas asphyxiates you more,” 23-year-old Honduran Ana Zuniga, who had her 3-year-old daughter Valery in her arms, said to theAssociated Press.
On Monday morning, Trump tweeted that some of the migrants are “stone cold criminals” and that he would not be opposed to closing the border altogether.
Tear gas near U.S.-Mexico border.David Guzmán/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Migrants in Tijuana, Mexico.David Guzmán/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Rodrigo Abd/AP/REX/Shutterstock
“@DHSgov will not tolerate this type of lawlessness & will not hesitate to shut down POEs for security reasons,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen tweeted on Sunday. “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.”
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“Anyone uncomfortable with spraying tear gas on children is welcome to join the coalition of the moral and the sane,” Sen. Brian Schatz tweeted. “We can argue about other stuff when we’ve got our country back.”
Migrants in Tijuana, Mexico.David Guzmán/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
“These children are barefoot. In diapers. Choking on tear gas,” California Gov.-elect Gavin Newsomtweeted.
“Women and children who left their lives behind — seeking peace and asylum — were met with violence and fear. That’s not my America,” he continued. “We’re a land of refuge. Of hope. Of freedom. And we will not stand for this.”
Trumphas criticized the migrant caravan— which started as thousands of Honduran migrants headed to the U.S. — since before the midterm elections. His call for a border wallrevives a central issuefrom his 2016 presidential campaign.
source: people.com
