Migrants run across the Tijuana river to reach the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico in Tijuana, Mexico, November 25, 2018. (Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)

The majority of the 42 migrants arrested Sunday as they attempted to cross the border illegally were adult men, according to San Diego U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

“We ended up making about 42 arrests. Only eight of those were females, and there were only a few children involved. The vast majority of those were adult males,” sector chief patrol agent Rodney Scott told CNN Monday.


“To be completely frank, there were numerous people that actually made it across the border,” Scott continued. “We’re in the process of building a new border wall here but we don’t have it completed. There were some sections that had dilapidated border wall that was made out of scrap metal the military gave us. The group breached a couple sections of that, actually tore down one small section, and started to rush across. And that’s the time they started assaulting our agents, and we were able to hold them back using riot techniques.”

Border Patrol agents were forced to shutter the San Ysidro port of entry near Tijuana on Sunday when a large group of migrants split off from a protest near the border and attempted to climb over barriers into the U.S. The migrants — some of whom hurled stones and other projectiles at border-patrol agents, according to the Department of Homeland Security — were met with tear gas.

Mexico’s Interior Ministry initially estimated 500 migrants attempted to cross the border “violently” on Sunday, but Border Patrol chief Carla Provost told Fox News on Monday that the number was closer to 1,000. Those migrants were part of a 6,000-person caravan that arrived in Tijuana ten days ago.



A number of prominent Democrats have criticized the use of tear gas, citing a photo of a woman and two young children struggling to escape the gas.

These children are barefoot. In diapers. Choking on tear gas. Women and children who left their lives behind — seeking peace and asylum — were met with violence and fear. That’s not my America. We’re a land of refuge. Of hope. Of freedom. And we will not stand for this. https://t.co/1APpeHIq6v — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 26, 2018

In a Monday morning tweet, President Trump demanded that Mexico deport those migrants arrested by Mexican authorities trying to cross the border Sunday, and threatened to permanently shutter the border if they fail to comply.

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! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2018

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