After that, the authorities in Tijuana arrested almost 500 of them, and announced at least 39 of them who threw rocks would be immediately deported.

It happened. Migrants stormed the border in Tijuana and the United States tear-gassed them before shutting the entire port of entry down.

According to Al Jazeera (which has the most detailed report of the Mexican reaction in English):

Mexico pledged on Sunday to increase security near its border crossings and said it will deport some of the 500 asylum seekers who attempted to breach the United States border. Those who tried to "violently" and "illegally" enter the US would be deported immediately, the Mexican interior ministry said on Sunday. "We are going to act and proceed to their deportation," Mexico's Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete told the Milenio television network. "Far from helping the caravan, they are hurting it."

The Tijuana press didn't sound impressed, either. According to El Sol de Tijuana:

La movilización migrante provocó caos y paralizó la actividad cotidiana de la ciudad de Tijuana

My translation: The migrant mobilization provoked chaos and parallized the daily activity of the city of Tijuana

Meanwhile, Tijuana officials made several statements saying they could not allow such acts of provocation from these foreign nationals to disrupt the good relations the city held with the U.S.

Who are they blaming? The foreign migrants, who according to this BBC report, were following the directives of their far-left caravan leaders. And now they would get swiftly thrown out of Mexico for it.

Nobody was blaming President Trump.

What do we see here? That for all of the border's shortcomings (and I have been critical of Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen for not seeming serious enough), the U.S. has been effective in halting the migrant challenge to the U.S.

Number one, the reinforced border (with a second wall beyond it) was enough to keep the migrants out, even the ones who illegally scaled the first one. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't Trump's famous wall, it was mostly razor wire and extra troops, but somehow it worked. At a critical time, it passed the test of resolve. It was enough.

Two, the border was immediately shut down, sending a message of resolve that border breaching was not acceptable. All of the good people who cross legally from either Mexico to the U.S. or the U.S. to Mexico had to wait and many were severely inconvenienced. More significant still, billions in trade in goods was disrupted, just as the holiday season kicks off. Even a few hours costs. That showed just how seriously this issue was being taken.

Three, the migrants who did break the law got tear-gassed rather than shot by U.S. agents in response to violent objects being hurled. That was a non-lethal response that raises questions about the parenting skills of the migrants who put their kids in the middle of it, and keeps the U.S. from being tagged the human rights violator subject to screams from the United Nations for not gunning them down. All the border breachers challenging the U.S. got was tear gas but it was enough to chase them away.

Four, the Mexican cops got busy and arrested nearly 500 of the rioters, with officials stating that they could not allow foreigners to disrupt their good relations with the U.S. for their own agendas.

Who is winning here? It's President Trump. By standing firm and insisting that the illegal border crossers would not pass, he showed that unlike Europe, America has resolve to defend the integrity of its borders. Trump means what he says.

Lefties are now looking like pigs, using women and children first as their camera fodder and then as their shock troops, as Mexicans get sick of the whole thing and vow to throw them out.

This is an optimal ending to the first challenge these crazed leftists have mounted. With all their armies of leftwing lawyers and judges, with all their amassed migrants to storm the actual border, they expected President Trump to fold like a cheap suit and he didn't. They chose poorly. Secretary Nielsen may be imperfect as Homeland Security secretary, but she lucked out because her opponents were so much stupider than anyone expected. These caravan leaders really did think they could use the migrants storm the border and get away with it scot-free and even if they lost, they'd have the moms and kids narrative. They lost on all fronts and now the Mexicans are mad.

Score one for President Trump.

Images are screenshots via camera from CBS News 8 television in San Diego.