Encouraged by cries of support, dozens of immigrants tried to enter illegally to the United States through the area known as Playas de Tijuana, and at least 20 of them passed to US soil and turned themselves in to immigration authorities.
At 4:00 pm, the security guard of the Mexican state of Baja California was relaxed, and almost a hundred immigrants, mostly Central Americans, took advantage of this, and climbed the metal fence.
Stories collected by the press specify that this kind of situation, although common, had not taken place for a while. The group, which included women and children, climbed the metal fence despite the barbed wire.
These migrants are part of the caravans that have arrived in Tijuana, Baja California, last November, and who are waiting for humanitarian asylum in the United States.
Without any Mexican authority to prevent them, one by one, the migrants managed to cross into US territory and at least twenty of them were handed over to the Customs Border Protection officers (CBP).
For a while people encouraged them to cross the border, although after a few minutes, the rest of the migrants decided to disband around the place called “El Faro”, in Playas de Tijuana.
Last weekend other group of at least 40 Central Americans also crossed the same point of the border and surrendered to the United States authorities, to speed up their asylum application.
Since the arrival of Central Americans in Tijuana, dozens of illegal crossing attempts have been reported, most of them in November, when the US Border Police threw tear gas bombs into Mexican territory and shot rubber bullets at migrants.
Since then, the United States Border Patrol has reinforced security with special agents and security wires, as well as intense light bulbs to detect any person immediately.
In addition, international sentry boxes have been closed for several minutes on at least six occasions, as a security exercise, to prevent a massive crossing of migrants like those that have already been attempted.
Translated by: Jose Espinoza