Tweets about the tear gassing of migrant children

Casey Renner/Flickr MelissaRyan/Twitter Lollardfish/Twitter OhNoSheTwitnt/Twitter (CC-BY) Remix by Samantha Grasso

Photos of migrant children running from tear gas, rubber bullets enrage the internet

Mothers and children are seen crying over the confrontation.

Photo of Samantha Grasso 

Samantha Grasso

IRL

Posted on Nov 26, 2018   Updated on May 21, 2021, 12:51 am CDT

The federal government seemingly hasn’t learned from the last time swaths of Americans rebuked its treatment of migrant children during the summer’s heightened family separations. Now, critics aren’t backing down once again after border agents used tear gas against migrant children attempting to seek asylum.

On Sunday, the United States temporarily shut down the San Ysidro border crossing, a Port of Entry between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California, after hundreds of Central American migrants were bombarded with tear gas and, according to multiple reports, rubber bullets, fired by U.S. border authorities, according to BuzzFeed News.

The incident lasted nearly two hours, with two groups of migrants tear gassed after they crossed the Tijuana River, eventually returning to a stadium where they’ve camped for days, waiting for the opportunity to apply for asylum.

The groups had initially marched to the border wall from the stadium, Estadio Caliente, in protest and hope they would be permitted to enter, holding signs of U.S.-Mexico-Honduran flags, and others that read, “Donald Trump, Christ loves you,” the publication reported. Conditions at the stadium are cold, with not enough food and water to go around.

At least one person crossed the U.S. border and was apprehended by border authority, though a Mexican government official said at least 30 people crossed into the U.S. and were detained. Mexico, following the confrontation, said it plans to deport up to 500 people who attempted to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. It’s unclear if U.S. troops had any involvement in the confrontation, though a spokesman for a group that oversees the troops stated that troops aren’t conducting “any law enforcement functions.”

Online, Americans caught a glimpse of the scene from reporters and photographers on the ground. One woman is seen running with her children, grasping the wrists of one child in each hand, at least one dressed in a diaper as they escape the tear gas.

Other photos and video show migrants huddling and protecting their faces after the tear gas firings.

But the most poignant of these photos and stories were those of the children and mothers, some crying in response to the confrontation. One woman told San Diego public media journalist Jean Guerrero that she plans on going back to Honduras with her children because she doesn’t want to risk her sons’ lives.

Days before, Guerrero reported that mothers in the caravan she had spoken to had told her that the feared “certain unruly men,” such as those who had previously protested at the U.S.-Mexico border fence to be allowed into the country, of hurting their chances of entering by creating a “bad reputation” for the entire group.

https://twitter.com/WendyFry_/status/1066783722547097607

https://twitter.com/WendyFry_/status/1066783753467584513

Across Twitter views reacted to the news and images, expressing horror and shame at the officials who used tear gas and potentially other forms of physical retaliation at the people crossing the border.

https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1067044797083467776

https://twitter.com/Lollardfish/status/1066902283890376704

https://twitter.com/prisonculture/status/1066907265616306176

https://twitter.com/MelissaRyan/status/1066821289627844609

READ MORE:

The San Ysidro Port of Entry was reopened in the hours following the confrontation, while migrants are left to wait at the stadium shelter for another day.

Share this article
*First Published: Nov 26, 2018, 10:12 am CST

Samantha Grasso

Samantha Grasso is a former IRL staff writer for the Daily Dot with a reporting emphasis on immigration. Her work has appeared on AJ+, Vox, Splinter, Los Angeles Magazine, and Austin Monthly.

Samantha Grasso