Sandy Huffaker AFP/Getty Images <caption> United States military personnel and Border Patrol agents at the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday at the San Ysidro border crossing point south of San Diego. </caption>
TIJUANA, Mexico — U.S. authorities on Sunday afternoon fired tear gas at members of the Central American migrant caravan who rushed the border fence and closed a major port of entry in the San Diego area on Sunday afternoon, sealing off vehicle and foot traffic at the busiest crossing along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The escalating tension at the border came after hundreds of members of the caravan marched through the streets of Tijuana toward the San Ysidro border crossing, where many say they want to apply for asylum in the United States.
As the group neared the crossing, Mexican police in riot gear blocked their path and used other barricades to close off access to a pedestrian footbridge. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) helicopters flew overhead. At one point, dozens of people approached the border fence, some threw rocks and bottles, and U.S. authorities used tear gas to repel them, a tactic rarely used by border officials.
Central American migrants ran through the car lanes approaching the U.S. port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico, after pushing past Mexican police on Nov. 25.
A CBP statement said the port of entry was closed at about 11:30 a.m. and remained that way by 2 p.m. local time.
The statement said that some people “attempted to enter the U.S. both directly east and west of the border crossing.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement that the port of entry was closed “to ensure public safety in response to large numbers of migrants seeking to enter the attempted to enter the U.S. illegally.”
“After being prevented from entering the Port of Entry, some of these migrants attempted to breach legacy fence infrastructure along the border and sought to harm CBP personnel by throwing projectiles at them,” the statement said.
President Trump has repeatedly threatened to close border crossings to prevent the migrant caravan from entering the United States. While members of the caravan have been in Tijuana for several days, this is the first time that a significant group has massed at the border fence.
Pedro Pardo
AFP/Getty Images
Central American migrants — mostly from Honduras — are stopped by federal police officers near the El Chaparral port of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana on Sunday.
The San Ysidro border crossing is a large complex with multiple lanes of vehicle traffic and pedestrian access points. U.S. border authorities say that some 100,000 people legally pass through every day. In recent days, Mexican authorities have worried about the economic impact of the United States closing down, even temporarily, such an important crossing for trade and travelers.
The first members of the migrant caravan began arriving in Tijuana about two weeks ago and in recent days its size has grown to more than 5,000 people, according to Mexican authorities. Tijuana's mayor declared the situation a humanitarian crisis.
The bulk of the group has been camped out at a sports complex that sits across a highway from the border fence. U.S. border officials have said they have a limited capacity to process asylum seekers, up to 100 per day. Others have been staying at migrant shelters.
As the days have passed, and with no resolution available for the group, migrants have grown more frustrated.
“Desperation has led some people to really believe that crossing is possible,” said Alex Almendares, a 22-year-old member of the caravan from Colón, Honduras. “The U.S. has given us no response, and the situation at the shelter keeps getting worse.”
Around 11:30 a.m. Sunday, hundreds of people from the caravan rushed across a canal that leads to a pedestrian border crossing. Mexican police in riot gear blocked their way, and a scuffle broke out between police and a couple dozen protesters. After being rebuffed, the migrants massed at another point along train tracks next to the border fence. Some young men tried to climb the fence, and others hopped up on trains holding Honduran flags and signs asking Trump to let them in.
Maria Lousia Caceres, 42, and her son followed people who were running toward the fence.
“We thought it was a peaceful march today, but then I saw everyone running and I thought, 'This is it, God will touch Trump's heart,” she said.
Caceres, a tortilla vendor from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, said she had fled her hometown and joined the migrant caravan after gang members killed two of her brothers and burned down her house. She said she wants asylum in the United States, but really just “wants life to get better now.”
Standing by the fence, when she realized there was no way across the border, she said she did not know what would happen next. “Now we wait,” she added.
Elizabeth Chirinos, 37, said she had followed others who were running toward the border because she felt desperate.
“The U.S. isn't letting us through and I can't live in those conditions in the shelter,” she said. “I want to go to the U.S. and not stay in Mexico because there are more opportunities.”
Standing back from the group by the fence, Almendares said that having migrants protesting at the border would not help their cause.
“It just gets people mad at us and I want asylum,” he said.
Pedro Pardo
AFP/Getty Images
A group of Central American migrants climb the border fence between Mexico and the United States, near El Chaparral border crossing, in Tijuana on Sunday.
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Partlow reported from Mexico City.
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