Photo: Rodrigo Abd/AP/REX/Shutterstock
No criminal charges were filed against the group of Central American migrants who were arrested on Sunday, after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officersused tear gasto deter them from trying to cross the Mexican border.
An administration official toldCNNthat two of the migrants were originally referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution, but U.S. Customs and Border Patrol went on to ask that the charges be dropped.
Citing an anonymous U.S. official familiar with the situation, theAssociated Pressreported that charges were not filed because the accused migrants were not medically able to be held in a detention center.
The anonymous U.S. official also told the outlet that many migrants were not referred to the DOJ because they were either children or parents traveling with children, while others were not prosecuted because not enough evidence was collected to pursue criminal charges.
According to CNN, a DOJ spokesperson told reporters on Tuesday that while the majority of those arrested over the weekend were males, he believed seven females and “a few children” had also been taken into custody.
As for what comes next, Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Ralph DeSio told the AP that all of the 42 migrants will face deportation.
“Depending on their country of citizenship and their case’s final disposition, the Border Patrol may turn those people over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” DeSio said.
Tear gas near U.S.-Mexico border.David Guzmán/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
U.S. border patrol uses tear gas on migrants at San Ysidro crossing.GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP/Getty
However,Kim Kyung-Hoon, a photographer for Reuters who was present at the time, said the group was tear gassed without any warning. “I didn’t hear anything, I looked around and didn’t see anything,” he told Reuters earlier this week.
RELATED VIDEO: PEOPLE Writer Natasha Stoynoff Breaks Silence, Accuses Donald Trump of Sexual Attack
Shortly after the incident, Trump tweeted on Monday that some of the migrants are “stone cold criminals” and added that he wouldn’t be opposed to closing the border altogether.
Echoing the president’s sentiments, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsentweetedon Sunday that “this type of lawlessness” would not be tolerated.
“@DHSgov will not tolerate this type of lawlessness & will not hesitate to shut down POEs for security reasons,” she wrote. “We’ll seek to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who destroys federal property, endangers our frontline operators, or violates our sovereignty.”
In a lengthier statement about Sunday’s border clash, Nielsen went on to claim to provide a concrete number of “convicted criminals” among the caravan members.
“We cannot confirm the backgrounds and identities of all caravan members which possess a national security and public safety risk to our country. However, at this point we have confirmed that there are over 600 convicted criminals traveling with the caravan flow,” shewrotein a statement shared on Facebook. ”This includes individuals known to law enforcement for assault, battery, drug crimes, burglary, rape, child abuse and more. This is serious. Additionally, Mexico has already arrested 100 caravan members for criminal violations in Mexico.”
Trump hasfrequently criticized the migrant caravan— which started as thousands of Central American migrants headed to the U.S. — since before the midterm elections. His call for a border wallrevives a central issuefrom his 2016 presidential campaign.
source: people.com
