Tear-Gassed Asylum Seekers Including Children at Border
Border Patrol fired tear gas across the international border into Mexico, hitting hundreds of asylum seekers including mothers carrying toddlers in diapers. The iconic Reuters photo of a fleeing family became a symbol of Trump's cruelty.
On November 25, 2018, U.S. Border Patrol agents fired tear gas across the international border into Mexico near the San Ysidro port of entry in Tijuana, affecting hundreds of Central American asylum seekers including women and young children.
A Reuters photograph of a Honduran mother in a Disney princess T-shirt running with her two toddler daughters — barefoot and in diapers — from plumes of white gas became one of the most iconic and damning images of the Trump presidency.
The majority of migrants affected were not among those attempting to rush the border. Children were "screaming and coughing in the mayhem." The San Ysidro crossing was briefly shut down entirely.
Trump initially defended the action, then denied that tear gas was used on children — directly contradicting photographic and video evidence. At the time, the port of entry was processing fewer than 100 asylum claims per day, creating a months-long backlog that contributed to the desperation at the border.
Firing chemical weapons across an international border at women and children seeking legal asylum was condemned by human rights organizations worldwide.