Mexico is set to deport nearly 500 migrants who attempted to storm the southern U.S. border on Sunday.
The country’s interior ministry said in a statement that a group was rounded up after it tried to cross the border “violently” and “illegally,” according to BBC. The interior ministry added that all those who tried to cross the border would be deported immediately and that the migrants disobeyed the legal migration framework.
{mosads}The announcement comes as tensions continue to mount as a band of thousands of Central Americans fleeing violence reach the U.S.-Mexico border.
Video footage showed dozens of people running towards a border fence in the city of Tijuana. The news agency, AFP, also reported that many managed to climb over the first border fence that separates the U.S. from Mexico.
Some reportedly tried to breach a second border fence, which led to U.S. border agents firing tear gas on a crowd of people.
The news service noted that the breeze carried the tear gas from border agents “hundreds of yards,” causing parents to run away with their “choking toddlers.”
The incident occurred right after the U.S. suspended pedestrian crossings at the San Ysidro port of entry.
President Trump has repeatedly criticized the band of migrants and has referred to the caravan as an “invasion.” He’s also threatened to shut down the border completely if Mexico does not hold the migrants while the U.S. processes their asylum claims.