BFF-50 Around 100 Central Americans try to enter US on New Year’s Eve

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MEXICO-MIGRANTS-US

Around 100 Central Americans try to enter US on New Year’s Eve

TIJUANA, Mexico, Jan 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Around 100 Central American
migrants made a failed attempt on New Year’s Eve to cross over from Mexico
into the United States.

They were among 1,500 migrants who have remained in Tijuana after a once-
5,000-strong caravan of travelers largely gave up and dispersed.

An AFP journalist observed the smaller group of Central Americans
gathering around 8:00 pm Monday night (0400 GMT Tuesday) in an area called
Playas de Tijuana on the Pacific coast. Migrants often use it as a departure
point for attempts to sneak across the border.

There, the border is marked with fencing and a large vertical plate that
juts out into the water. On the other side of it, US border agents were seen
mobilizing.

As night fell and people on both sides of the frontier prepared to
celebrate New Year’s Eve, the migrants tried to cross over but at least two
smoke bombs were hurled and they ultimately held back.

Those who tried to cross included adult men, women with small children and
adolescents.

After the attempt, part of the group stayed near the border and other
Central Americans arrived and joined them.

Shortly after the New Year began, dozens of migrants stood on a hill from
which they could see US border agents, who watched them closely.

When people in this group rushed the border in a second incident, US
authorities fired tear gas to disperse them, an AFP photographer observed.

The migrants were part of a caravan that left Central America in October
and traveled 4,300 kilometers (2,600 miles) to Tijuana in the hope of
reaching the US and requesting asylum. Many were fleeing gang violence and
poverty.

They arrived here in Tijuana early November and today about 1,500 still
remain. The rest asked to be transported back home or dispersed to other
parts of Mexico.

US President Donald Trump used the caravan to stir up fear of immigrants
as he pressed his drive to build a wall on the border. He has also made it
harder for people to request asylum at the frontier.

BSS/AFP/RY/1900 hrs