© fox5sandiego.comMigrants rush US border crossing, causing prompt shutdown, engaging customs and border protection guards.
The confrontation highlights the escalating tensions along the border as thousands of migrants from Central America poured into Tijuana in recent weeks seeking asylum to enter the U.S. President Trump has pushed to keep any migrants in Mexico as they await the immigration process.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials closed southbound vehicle and pedestrian crossings around 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Northbound vehicle traffic processing at San Ysidro also was suspended, and the pedestrian crossings at the San Ysidro port of entry were closed.
The pedestrian crossings were reopened about 3:45 p.m.
The San Ysidro border crossing is one of the busiest ports of entry in the world, with more than 90,000 people crossing between San Diego and Tijuana on a daily basis, and the closures snarled traffic for miles in the area.
Ports of entry in Otay Mesa and Tecate remain open.
Migrants began marching from their shelter at the Benito Juarez sports complex, an open-air sports arena turned into a makeshift shelter, to Mexico's El Chaparral border crossing Sunday morning.
Around 11:20 a.m., the group clashed with Mexican federal police in riot gear before rushing past authorities and through a concrete canal to an area of the border near the San Ysidro pedestrian bridge.
One of the Mexican officers trying to keep migrants from the area got into a scuffle and appeared to suffer a cut lip.
A number of tear cannisters were launched into the canal to get migrants to disperse, witnesses said.
A helicopter circled overhead when a group of about 50 people ran past Mexican police to a small hole in the border fence. Some at the fence could be seen throwing rocks.
U.S. authorities appeared to deploy less-lethal ammunition and flash bangs at the group, and people scattered. Women and children dashed under a train to take cover, initially unaware the shots were coming from non-lethal explosive devices. A baby wailed while her mother tried to calm her, and cover her face with a torn shirt to protect her from the tear gas.
Members of the caravan said at least two people appeared to be injured during Sunday's events, including one child.
During the incident, Tijuana Municipal Police detained 39 people, including 15 Mexicans and 24 Hondurans. Two of the Hondurans were women. Police worked to escort the group at the border back to the Benito Juarez, the sports complex.
Tijuana Mayor Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum said on Twitter, "We will not allow our binational relationship to be broken by the bad behavior of the migrant caravan." He added that the caravan was breaking the law and that Tijuana residents who "work, study and visit the United States in peace" are affected by the closure.
Things calmed soon after and one women could be heard speaking through a bull horn to U.S. Border patrol agents on the other side saying, "We don't want war, we don't want killing..."
At least three helicopters circled the area, and around 1:30 p.m., a large Homeland Security bus was ushered past the border barricade.
Customs and Border Protection had deployed additional personnel to the border due to multiple planned protests on both sides. The personnel included Customs and Border Protection officers, U.S. Border Patrol agents and Air and Marine agents recently sent to the region. San Diego police also readied on-duty officers Sunday afternoon to respond to the border division if needed.
Lines of people who expected to cross into Mexico were clustered on a corner of Camino De La Plaza. The closure was creating a traffic nightmare. At one point, traffic on southbound Interstate 805 was backed up more than 8 miles, from the U.S. border all the way past Plaza Boulevard in National City.
Caltrans said on Twitter that southbound lanes of I-805 were closed at state Route 905, with traffic being diverted to east and westbound state Route 905. Southbound Interstate 5 also was closed at SR-905. Access to southbound I-5 from westbound SR-905 also was shut down, the agency reported.
The Metropolitan Transit System suspended Blue Line Trolley service at San Ysidro Transit Center until the pedestrian crossings were reopened. MTS also halted service to the Virginia Transit Center. A temporary was set up outside the transit station on Camino De La Plaza.
The nearby Las Americas Outlet Mall was also closed Sunday due to the incident.
More than 6,200 Central American migrants have been camped out in muddy and cramped conditions at the makeshift shelter. Mexican authorities estimate an additional 1,669 migrants are trekking toward Baja California from the Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa.
Tijuana municipal authorities have said they are not equipped to handle the growing group. Human rights groups working with Mexico's federal government promised to improve the conditions inside the shelters.
As migrants passed through the bustling border city, Mexican federal police and Edgar Corzo Sosa, the director of the National Human Rights Commission, have tried convincing them to turn around. Officials also urged the group to apply for workers visas in Mexico, claiming thousands of jobs were available in Tijuana.
The migrants have been trying to present themselves to United States immigration authorities for asylum, but the U.S. only processes 100 applications for asylum a day, a process that has slowed in recent months, leaving thousands on the waiting list.
Those applications are processed at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, not the pedestrian bridge where migrants said they planned to cross and where hundreds of migrants ran to on Sunday.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump threatened to completely shut down the border, and the $1.6 billion daily trading relationship with Mexico. He also authorized military forces to use lethal force "if necessary" to defend border agents from migrants attempting to cross into the U.S.
A Department of Homeland Security official said Monday there are an estimated 500 criminals traveling in the caravan. Local authorities in Baja California have detained 57 migrants of which 47 are Hondurans. They were taken into custody on suspicion of public disorderly conduct. Of those detained by local police, 42 of those migrants are now in deportation proceedings in Mexico, according to local police.
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