Border securityMexico says it would deport U.S. border-rushers

Published 26 November 2018

The government pf Mexico has said that anyone approaching the border in a “violent way” will not be allowed to stay in Mexico. Forty-two refugees have been arrested on U.S. soil after running for the border.

Mexico’s Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete said on Monday that migrants who attempted to cross into the US in a “violent way” would be deported.  “Far from helping the caravan, they are hurting it,” he said in an interview with broadcaster Milenio.

The Mexican government has promised to ramp up security at the border.

DW reports that around 1,000 Central American migrants held an initially peaceful rally in Tijuana, on the border with the United States, on Sunday. But after a few hours, about half the group suddenly ran towards the San Ysidro port of entry.

Although Mexican police were stationed nearby, they were outnumbered and overwhelmed by the unexpected rush. U.S. border police then fired rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd of men, women and children.

Most of the 5,000 refugees living in the Tijuana camp come from Honduras, where gang violence had led to one of the world’s highest murder rates.

U.S. authorities said on Monday that forty-two people had been arrested for illegal crossing on the U.S. side of the border. Honduras has condemned the incident and called on the United Nations to address its request for assistance for the stranded migrants.

The refugees are legally allowed to apply for asylum in the United States, but this process has been known to take as long as a year.

About 9,000 U.S. troops have been deployed to the border region despite the strong presence of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in the area.