A day after the US shutdown a port of entry on its southwestern border and shot tear gas and pepper spray into crowds of migrants to stop them from crossing illegally, Donald Trump has said Mexico should deport them back to their home countries.
Many of the approximately 5,000 migrants camped out in Tijuana, Mexico, are attempting to enter the US through the San Ysidro port near San Diego, California, in order to apply for asylum. US border agents are approving approximately 100 applications per day but tensions over the slow pace came to a head over the weekend.
Mr Trump - who also defended the use of tear gas - tweeted: "Mexico should move the flag-waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries. Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!"
Later, Mexico's foreign ministry presented a diplomatic note to the US government calling for "a full investigation" into what it described as non-lethal weapons directed towards Mexican territory on Sunday, a statement from the ministry said.
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Mexico's foreign ministry has presented a diplomatic note to the US government calling for "a full investigation" into what it described as non-lethal weapons directed toward Mexican territory on Sunday, a statement from the ministry said.
Tijuana police chief Mario Martinez told a news conference on Monday that 194 Central Americans had been arrested in the 15 days the caravan has been in the area around the border.
The US military has said it has shifted about 300 service members from Texas and Arizona to California in the past few days.
In a statement, US Northern Command said that these forces would include military police, engineering and logistics units. It added that less than 200 troops had been sent home from the border mission, meaning that in total about 5,600 troops active-duty troops are on the border with Mexico.
Mexico has been in negotiations with the United States over a possible scheme to keep migrants in Mexico while their asylum claims are processed.
The team of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who takes office on Saturday, says no deal has been agreed on the migrants. But officials are hinting they could remain.
"We should be objective, whatever happens they will stay in Mexico," said Alejandro Encinas, incoming deputy interior minister. "Migrants have rights and we will respect them."
Here's our update on the latest lines from the border:
Trump defends use of tear gas at US-Mexico border after Democrats say 'this is not my America'
The IndependentMexico deporting 98 migrants from Central America after hundreds rushed borderConservative commentator Geraldo Rivera was one of those on the right to admonish the images of the use of tear gas:
Some of those at the border believe the violent clashes will undermine those who will ask for asylum.
Isauro Mejia, 46, from Cortes, Honduras, said that before the tear gas, he had hoped to be able to press an asylum claim, but now he was not so sure.
"The way things went yesterday ... I think there is no chance," Mr Mejia told the Associated Press. "With the difficulty that has presented itself because of yesterday's incidents ... that's further away."
Isauro Mejia, 46, from Cortes, Honduras, said that before the tear gas, he had hoped to be able to press an asylum claim, but now he was not so sure.
"The way things went yesterday ... I think there is no chance," Mr Mejia told the Associated Press. "With the difficulty that has presented itself because of yesterday's incidents ... that's further away."
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham responded to Democratic Congresswoman-Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's comparison of the migrant crisis with the Holocaust.
He said she should "take a tour of the Holocaust Museum" in Washington, DC, which documents the Second World War genocide of Jews all over Europe.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez previously travelled to the Texas-Mexico border in order to advocate for the reunification of families separated as they attempted to migrate to the US.
Mr Trump has also defended the use of tear gas and pepper spray on the San Ysidro migrants.
On his way to Mississippi for a political rally, the president said US border agents "were being rushed by some very tough people and they used tear gas".
He then brought up his predecessor Barack Obama again. The Trump administration faced near-global scorn for the family separation policy to jail parents and guardians upon illegal entry into the US separately from approximately 2,300 children, who were kept in tent cities and moved as far away as Chicago and New York.
Mr Trump, who had said the policy was intended to stop human trafficking, ended the policy in June but said today: "Obama had a separation policy but people don't like to talk about it".
The previous administration detained families together, but often released them as they awaited asylum hearings in immigration court.
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.
Last week, Mr Trump had threatened to close the whole border with Mexico should the migrant caravan become "uncontrollable" even with nearly 6,000 US troops and additional border agents at the ready.
Mr Trump said closing the border would also affect trade with Mexico, specifically vehicle sales. His comment came just weeks after the USMCA was signed, a trade deal between the US, Mexico, and Canada which replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
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While Defence Secretary James Mattis did not address the migrant caravan in comments about the US military's challenges in the western hemisphere, Navy Admiral Kurt Tidd said the caravan is an example of one.
"We have to be more attentive to the threats in this hemisphere. What affects one, affects all," Mr Tidd said, adding that lawlessness and high crime in some countries "are the drivers of migration from Central America."
Donald Trump has also defended the use of tear gas. "They had to use, because they were being rushed by some very tough people."
In that interview, Mr Scott said migrants had thrown rocks at CBP agents and defended the decision to use tear gas, saying: 'What I saw on the border yesterday was not people walking up to border control agents and asking to seek asylum.'
The CBP has tweeted a link to Chief Patrol Agent Rodney Scott discussing the caravan on CNN earlier today:
Helicopters continue to patrol the border area to watch for any migrants who attempt to sneak through into the US.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan has justified the use of tear gas, which could mean migrants will face that situation again.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has said she will "aggressively support" what her agents choose to do to protect the US border.
Last month our own Andrew Buncombe had travelled to Mexico to report on the conditions the migrant caravan was facing and what they were fleeing.
This was was during a run of "Make America Great Again" rallies held by Donald Trump ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, during which he repeatedly called the caravan "criminals" and accompanied by "unknown Middle Easterners" in attempt to rile up his base.
You can read more about it here:
After everything they've been through, Trump's threats won't stop caravan migrants: 'We have nothing'
The IndependentUS president has been stepping up anti-immigration rhetoricHere is footage released by US Customs and Border Patrol of the scene ahead of the tear gas incident.
The Hispanic Caucus, a group of US House members who are of Hispanic descent or who serve constituencies with a large population of Hispanics, has also issued a statement through its head, Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas.
Mr Castro wrote that while immigration and asylum processes were never perfect, they were "orderly, humane" for several decades through presidents of both parties.
"Yet, the Trump administration has failed miserably," he wrote.
New York Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has compared the migrants being chased away with tear gas to when Jews attempted to flee Nazi Germany.
She wrote: “Asking to be considered a refugee and applying for status isn’t a crime. It wasn’t for Jewish families fleeing Germany".
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