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US Temporarily Closes Mexico Border Checkpoint, Fires Tear Gas to Disperse Crowd

© AP Photo / Ramon EspinosaMigrants cross the river at the Mexico-U.S. border after getting past a line of Mexican police at the Chaparral crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018
Migrants cross the river at the Mexico-U.S. border after getting past a line of Mexican police at the Chaparral crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018 - Sputnik International
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All border traffic was halted temporarily on Sunday at a crossing between San Diego, California and Tijuana, in the Baja California state of Mexico, the US Customs and Border Protection agency said.

US President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to close border checkpoints with Mexico, as a means of fighting illegal immigration.

"If for any reason it becomes necessary, we will CLOSE our Southern Border. There is no way that the United States will, after decades of abuse, put up with this costly and dangerous situation anymore!" Trump tweeted.

A migrant carrying the flags of Mexico and Honduras gives a thumbs-up to a moto rickshaw driver who stopped to take their picture, as a thousands-strong caravan of Central Americans hoping to reach the U.S. border moves onward from Juchitan, Oaxaca state, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018. Thousands of migrants resumed their slow trek through southern Mexico on Thursday, after attempts to obtain bus transport to Mexico City failed - Sputnik International
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Border City Mexicans: Gov't Fails to Take Any Action to Tackle Migrant Caravan
Trump reiterated in his tweets that only those already eligible for refugee status would be allowed into the United States.

The Washington Post reported that Mexican authorities had agreed to Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" proposal. According to the proposal, migrants who wish to seek asylum in the United will stay in Mexico until a decision on their request is made.

On Tuesday, the Mexican Interior Ministry said around 5,600 migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador were staying near the border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali. According to official figures, an estimated 2,600 migrants have settled near Tijuana.

READ MORE: US, Mexico Outline Roadmap Deal to Keep Migrants at the Border – Report

The initial caravan of asylum-seeking migrants set out from Honduras in the direction of Mexico and the United States on October 13, hoping to gain refugee status in these countries. According to UN estimates, the caravan included more than 7,000 migrants. Another caravan of around 3,000 asylum seekers followed suit later in October.

An agent with the U.S. Border Patrol Tactical Unit guards the U.S. side of the border wall with Mexico in Brownsville, Texas, U.S. - Sputnik International
Migrant Caravan: Troops to Stay at Mexico Border 'as Long as Necessary' – Trump
Juan Manuel Gastelum, the mayor of Tijuana, said on Friday that he would not have city residents bear the burden of sustaining asylum seekers arriving from Central American countries in migrant caravans, adding that Tijuana was already suffering from a humanitarian crisis.

The White House in a cabinet order stated that deployed US troops will be allowed to "perform those military protective activities that the Secretary of Defense determines are reasonably necessary" to protect border agents, including "a show or use of force (including lethal force, where necessary), crowd control, temporary detention, and cursory search."

According to AP report, US agents have shot tear gas on Sunday at migrants after some tried to breach fence separating US and Mexico.

READ MORE: Mexican Authorities Reveal Scale of Migrant Caravan Poised to Cross US Border

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