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Hundreds of Migrants Try to Force Their Way Into US at Mexico Border


Camila Paz, an 18-year-old Venezuelan migrant takes part in a protest at the Paso del Norte international bridge to request asylum in the United States, seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, March 12, 2023.
Camila Paz, an 18-year-old Venezuelan migrant takes part in a protest at the Paso del Norte international bridge to request asylum in the United States, seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, March 12, 2023.

U.S. officials stopped hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants entering the country from Mexico on Sunday after a large group broke through Mexican lines to demand asylum in the U.S., only to be thwarted by barbed wire, barriers and shields.

Frustrated with problems securing appointments to seek asylum using a new U.S. government app, the migrants gathered at the frontier in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez but could not breach the crossing connecting the two countries.

Many of the migrants had small children with them.

Migrants, mostly from Venezuela, try to cross the barrier of the Mexican army, to enter the Paso del Norte international bridge, during a protest to request asylum in the United States, seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, March 12, 2023.
Migrants, mostly from Venezuela, try to cross the barrier of the Mexican army, to enter the Paso del Norte international bridge, during a protest to request asylum in the United States, seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, March 12, 2023.

At one point, some migrants attempted to hurl an orange, plastic barrier at the U.S. line, Reuters images show. Some people said pepper spray was deployed to repel them.

"Please, we just want to get in so we can help our families," said Camila Paz, an 18-year-old Venezuelan, sobbing heavily. "So I can have a future and help my family."

Neither U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) nor the Mexican government's national migration authority immediately replied to requests for comment.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents confront migrants during a protest at the Paso del Norte international bridge to request asylum in the United States, seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, March 12, 2023.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents confront migrants during a protest at the Paso del Norte international bridge to request asylum in the United States, seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, March 12, 2023.

After some pushing and shoving with the officials, the crowd of migrants eventually withdrew, with some heading down to the banks of the Rio Grande where they were monitored by U.S. immigration officials arrayed on the other side.

Many migrants have become fed up with the asylum process since the Biden administration made an app called CBP One available to them that was meant to streamline applications.

They say the app is beset by persistent glitches and high demand, leaving them in limbo in perilous border regions.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said recent app updates will simplify and speed up the process.

Describing her situation as "horrible, horrible," Paz said she had been trying to cross the border for a month, watching her money disappear and getting no nearer to claiming asylum.

"We want answers please," she said, "the (CBP One) application has done absolutely nothing for us."

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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