Critics, including Latin American leaders, immigrant-rights advocates
Sen. Dianne Feinstein said: “It’s horrifying to see tear gas used on mothers and young children as they seek refuge in the United States. That’s not what America should be.”
According to Homeland Security data, the same tear-gas agent that President Trump’s administration is being attacked for deploying against a people trying to enter the U.S. illegally this weekend is actually used fairly frequently — including more than once a month during President Barack Obama’s administration.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has used 2-
Use of the CS rose agent in fiscal 2017 was split between Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and reached 29 deployments in fiscal 2018, ended two months ago, according to CBP data seen by The Washington Times.
Border authorities also use another agent, pepper spray, officially known as Pava Capsaicin, frequently — including a decade-high record of 151 instances in 2013 under Obama. It was used 43 times in
The data poses a big challenge to the current anger over the Border Patrol’s use of tear gas Sunday to prevent
Democrats are complaining about threats of “deadly force” against the border incursions, which saw migrants punch through fencing, and launch rocks and bottles at agents doing
Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, took umbrage at the outrage, questioning where the outrage from the critics
“This policy that we use was an Obama-written policy and it was used in 2013 at the same port of entry,” Brandon Judd told CNN, calling out the intense media outrage now versus back then.
“The facts are, the policy written under President Obama allows us to use tear gas to disperse a crowd that was very dangerous,” he told the network.
In typical CNN style, the host Erin Burnett just scoffed at Mr. Judd’s facts, saying the agents were using tear gas against women and children this weekend.
“The tear gas was not deployed at the children,” Brandon Judd countered, stating that migrants were attempting to use them as human shields.
Around 9,000 members of the migrant caravans are camped in Baja California along the U.S.-Mexico border, readying themselves to attempt to enter the U.S., according to Mexican press accounts.
Mexican authorities have said 500 migrants were involved in the attempts to storm the border. Some U.S. officials have put the number much higher.
Mexico said it has deported 98 caravan members it has identified as part of the violence and chaos.
Report by Jane Mitchell for MilneNews.com
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