A frantic video captures the moment that a large bridge connecting Mexico and the US was attacked by hundreds of migrants.
The mob is shown yelling and even jumping for delight as they rush onto the Paso Del Norte bridge from Juárez on Sunday afternoon, under a sign that reads “Feliz Viaje,” or “Good travels,” in the video that was initially shared with Fox News.
According to the Mexican publication Norte Digital, the stampede was sparked by a rumor that the border was being opened so they could apply for political asylum in the US more quickly.
Several people, including old people and little children, began to run and pleaded with other people to join them as they sprinted over the bridge going to El Paso, Texas.
The mob, which Fox believed to be at least 1,000 migrants, many of whom were from Venezuela, then pressed against gates at the border crossing, some of them standing on cars as hours-long traffic delays occurred.
While others prayed and pleaded to be allowed through, some appeared to try to slip past the barbed wire. In response to a potential threat to make a mass entrance, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents said they had to put in place port hardening measures on three bridges on Sunday.
CBP, more police, and barricades were also deployed at the Stanton-Lerdo span and the Bridge of the Americas.
A huge group of migrants in Mexico who were prepared to storm the border with the US over the weekend were prevented from doing so, according to a spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection.
Physical obstacles were put up at the Paso Del Norte International Bridge on Sunday afternoon to prevent the migrants from making a mass entry, according to spokesperson Roger Maier’s statement to The Associated Press on Monday.
Barricades were briefly used on Sunday afternoon in El Paso at several border crossings, including the Stanton-Lerdo bridge and the Bridge of the Americas.
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Hundreds of migrants were shown on camera shoving past members of the Mexican National Guard on the Mexican side of the Paso Del Norte bridge on Sunday. Several migrants were seen carrying children on their shoulders.
By Sunday night, both directions of traffic had been reopened. What attempted mass crossing was caused is not yet known. A message asking for comment was sent to the El Paso mayor’s office.
Camilo Cruz, who works for the UN migration office in Ciudad Juarez, believes that false rumors may have contributed to the rush across the bridge. Cruz claims that there was speculation that they would permit a large number of individuals to pass, particularly those who arrived with children.
Cruz claimed that the rumors are a persistent issue. Messages that there were going to be buses on the US side to take them to Canada started spreading around a month ago, but when people arrived, they discovered the communications to be lies.
Since the Biden administration released it on January 12, the CBPOne mobile app, which the US government uses to schedule appointments for asylum applications, has been plagued with congestion. Every day at 6 am, new appointments are available, but migrants encounter problems with incorrect warnings.
A pandemic rule that forbids refugees from applying for asylum on the grounds that doing so would help stop the spread of COVID-19 and is about to expire on May 11 is another source of annoyance. Recently, Mexico started returning illegal immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela under the public health regulation known as Title 42.
