Chaos erupted at the southern border on Sunday as an estimated 1,000 illegal immigrants tried to force their way into El Paso, Texas.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin posted scenes of the chaos on Twitter as mobs smashed barriers in a desperate attempt to cross the border.
“This is the bilateral show of force that dispersed the huge group of migrants trying to rush a port of entry in El Paso today. Two lines of Mexican military, then on the US side, physical barriers, barbed wire, and a skirmish line of CBP officers in crowd control gear,” he posted late Sunday afternoon, after posting images of illegal immigrants flooding onto the Paso Del Norte bridge.
A statement from Customs and Border Protection said the group was “posing a potential threat to make a mass entry.”
The statement said the Border Patrol “implemented port hardening measures” at the Paso del Norte International Bridge and also had to block traffic at two other bridges before the illegal immigrants were finally turned back.
The statement said the Border Patrol “implemented port hardening measures” at the Paso del Norte International Bridge and also had to block traffic at two other bridges before the illegal immigrants were finally turned back.
According to the Texas Tribune, the illegal immigrants — most of whom were from Venezuela — believed they were being allowed in the county.
“On Facebook, we saw an image that said they were going to open (the bridge) today because it was Migrants’ Day, something like that,” it quoted a migrant hoping to enter the U.S. as saying. “We just want an answer, so we came to see if it was true.”
The flood of illegal immigrants began at about noon with the bridge not open for traffic until almost 7 p.m., according to KVIA-TV.
El Paso Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino said the border held — this time.
“At this time [Emergency Operations Center] has shut down. Crowds [have] subsided, and it’s just being monitored,” D’Agostino said, according to CNN.
“No breach has occurred.”
* Article from: Independent Journal-Review
