The top Border Patrol official in San Diego, Calif., on Monday said his federal agents had to use tear gas against members of a migrant group because they assaulted law enforcement personnel while trying to break through the barrier.
“When the threat is to our personnel or to protect others, you gotta do what you gotta do,” San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Rodney Scott told CNN about migrants’ weekend attempt to storm the border near the San Ysidro port of entry. “What we saw over and over yesterday is that the group, the caravan as we call them, would push women and children to the front and then begin basically rocking our agents.”
“The group immediately started throwing rocks and debris at our agents, taunting the agents, and once our agents were assaulted, and the numbers started growing, we had two or three agents at a time initially facing hundreds of people at a time, they deployed tear gas to protect themselves and to protect the border,” Scott said.
None of the estimated 5,800 active-duty troops that were deployed to the border were on the front lines, Scott said.
The top regional Border Patrol agent said his personnel responded to the attacks by targeting the instigators, not bystanders, adding that others in the vicinity would have been affected by deterrents like tear gas.
Photos captured by reporters at the scene Sunday showed agents deploying tear gas at an opening in the wall where people had tried to squeeze between and pass through while others standing by threw rocks aimed at those north of the wall.
The sector has been in the process of replacing a six-foot-tall metal barrier with an 18-foot-tall bollard-style wall. Due to construction, the areas between the old and new barriers are easier to pass through.
The Department of Homeland Security estimated last week that 6,000 migrants who had traveled to Mexico from Central America as part of a caravan were in Tijuana. Border Patrol last week shut down the San Ysidro port due to reports some in the group were planning to run through the port of entry without being inspected by Customs and Border Protection officers, which is illegal.
Scott said those involved in Sunday’s surge could have sought asylum but chose to attempt to trespass.
“If they were truly asylum seekers they would have walked up with their hands up and surrendered,” Scott said.
“What I saw on the border yesterday was not people walking up to Border Patrol agents and asking to claim asylum,” Scott said.
Three agents were hit by rocks, but their tactical gear protected them from serious injury, according to Border Patrol. A “few” government vehicles were also damaged. Forty-two people were arrested for illegally entering the U.S., most of whom were adult men.
Scott said CBP has no plans to increase the number of officers accepting asylum claims at San Ysidro, which is the largest border crossing in the country and sees 100,000 people cross daily.
“Any additional resources we assign to processing asylum seekers literally slows down the economy of the United States. It slows down people that legitimately cross back and forth across our borders, to include the international airports,” Scott said. “We get complaints constantly with the lines as they are. We just have limited resources.”
CBP, which is in charge of all port activity, closed down the San Ysidro port of entry late Sunday morning through mid-afternoon Sunday.
