Mario Tama/Getty Images(SAN YSIDRO, Calif.) — U.S. border officials have temporarily closed a port of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border as thousands of Central American migrants wait in Tijuana to apply for asylum in the U.S.
The port of entry at San Ysidro, north of Tijuana and south of San Diego, have been closed since about 11:30 a.m. Sunday, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said in a statement.
Some demonstrators on the Mexico side of the border “split off to heard towards multiple locations along the border,” and some attempted to enter the U.S. in areas “directly east and west” of the border crossing, the release stated. Some also attempted to enter the U.S. through northbound and southbound vehicle lanes at the port of entry, but they were “stopped and turned back to Mexico,” according to CBP.
The attempts to “illegally enter the U.S.” continued, and CBP agents responded to them, it said.
CBP had deployed additional agents to the border in preparation for multiple planned demonstrations, it said. The border was closed “to prepare for the possibility that additional groups would also break off from demonstrations for a possible attempt or attempts to rush illegally through the port of entry,” the release stated.
Member of the U.S. Army were present at the request of CBP and moved some of the barricades at the border, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army North told ABC News.
Video taken at the scene shows some migrants running near a canal close to the border, others gathering near an open fence near the border and some walking over a broken fence. One shot shows a migrant who climbed on top of a train holding a Honduran flag.
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