More than 5,000 Central American migrants in Tijuana, Mexico wait for their applications for asylum to be processed as Donald Trump continues to crack down on their entry into the US.
Speaking at a roundtable with supporters in Mississippi, Mr Trump claimed the tear gas used against asylum seekers was “very safe”.
The US president went on to say that some of the women pictured with the tear gas are not really parents but are instead “grabbers” who steal children to have a better chance of being granted asylum. He cited no evidence to back-up his claim.
However, a partial government shutdown looms. Congress has just 11 days to pass a spending bill which would fund, among other agencies, the border-policing Department of Homeland Security.
Mr Trump has been threatening to bring the $312bn bill to a standstill over his border wall proposal.
Democrats have accused him of putting at risk the one function of government he wants to shore up with the wall - all for the sake of saving face on his campaign promise.
The president's supporters say his base will understand the stance because he is putting "America First".
Mr Ebrard was speaking to reporters during a news conference in Mexico City. Named after General George Marshall, the Marshall Plan was a US-backed aid scheme to rebuild Western Europe after the devastation of the Second World War.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be meeting with Mr Ebrard, who will officially take office on 1 December as President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also known by the acronym Amlo is sworn into office.
He is already facing a dilemma about his proposal to issue work visas to the Central American migrants so they do not have to cross the border into the US.
With migrants feeling deflated after the tear gas clash, Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said it "reiterates that members of the caravans that cross our country should respect Mexican laws and not engage in actions that affect the communities they pass through."
"It is important to note that the fact the Mexican government protects their rights does not imply a free pass to break the law," the group said in a rare moment of less than full-throated support for the migrants.
A large part of the support issue is due to economics. For the six million people who live in the border region this could prove disastrous economically.
Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened to close the San Ysidro port of entry near San Diego, California, and Tiajuana, Mexico.
San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce on yesterday’s port of entry shutdown. pic.twitter.com/Xphgd4TkEt
— Maya Srikrishnan (@msrikris) November 27, 2018
There are actually American troops stationed along the US-Mexico border. US border patrol agents were the ones who the tear gas, however.
Approximately 300 US troops stationed at the border in Texas and Arizona have now been given a new assignment in California, specifically around the San Ysidro port of entry near San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico.
The move comes after US Customs and Border Protection asked the Pentagon for help to stop illegal immigration. According to the US military 2,400 troops are in Texas, 1,400 are in Arizona and 1,800 are currently in California.
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"Grabbers" are women who take children who are not their own across the border with the aim of seeking asylum.
There is no evidence this is the case.
Representatives GK Butterfield and David Price have announced that Samuel Oliver-Bruno's petition for deferred deportation was denied.
Mr Oliver-Bruno, 47, was at an immigration office last week to pursue that application when he was detained. The congressmen say he left the church after 11 months because immigration officials told him to have his fingerprints taken as part of the application.
Carlos Urzua said late Monday that "all possibilities" point to a signing in Argentina.
"It is important to note that the fact the Mexican government protects their rights does not imply a free pass to break the law," the group said in a rare moment of less than full-throated support for the migrants.
UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch, asked on Tuesday about U.S. forces firing tear gas at migrants, told a Geneva news briefing:
"We are following those reports with concern, we are still trying to understand what transpired there."
Border management is "a sovereign prerogative of national governments", but border security and international protection for refugees are not mutually exclusive, he said.
"We have been repeating our call on the U.S. authorities to grant access to the territory and to asylum procedure to those who are fleeing persecution and violence".
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