After clash, migrants warned of detention, deportation

President Donald Trump told Mexico to deport caravan migrants and threatened to close the U.S. southern border Monday after protesters tried to cross illegally into the country. Thousands of Central American migrants are waiting to apply for asylum in Tijuana, Mexico, where a group of protesters rushed a checkpoint on Sunday and were repelled by tear gas. The migrants had staged a march to ask the United States to speed up processing their asylum claims. Some of them pushed pass Mexican police and tried to cross the border. U.S. authorities said several of the protesters threw rocks at Border Patrol agents, prompting the tear gas. The wind carried the fumes to crowds hundreds of feet away, causing people to panic and flee. Mexican authorities arrested 39 people. The Border Patrol also temporarily shut down the San Ysidro crossing on Sunday, where it had been processing about 100 asylum claims a day.

On Saturday, Trump tweeted that migrants should not be allowed into the United States until their asylum claims were approved: “We only will allow those who come in our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No ‘Releasing’ into the U.S.” Current policy allows asylum seekers to stay in the United States while awaiting the government’s decision.

The incoming Mexican interior minister said the country will not allow asylum seekers to wait there while their cases are decided. Mexican authorities said Sunday they have deported 11,000 Central American migrants since Oct. 19. About 1,900 of those were members of caravans.