Trump administration official defends tear gas use at Mexico border

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

POLITICS DECEMBER 11, 2018 / 11:39 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Trump administration official defends tear gas use at Mexico border

Yeganeh Torbati
3 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The firing of tear gas canisters by U.S. border agents toward migrants in Mexico near a border crossing last month followed regulations, a senior Trump administration official said in testimony to Congress on Tuesday.

On Nov. 25, U.S. border agents fired tear gas to disperse a group of migrants near the U.S.-Mexico border crossing separating Tijuana from San Diego when some rushed through fencing into the United States.

A day after the incident, Mexico’s foreign ministry presented a diplomatic note to the U.S. government calling for “a full investigation” into what it described as non-lethal weapons directed toward Mexican territory.

Kevin McAleenan, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees U.S. Border Patrol, said in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the use of tear gas was within the agency’s regulations and came as agents faced a “difficult situation.”

“Pepper spray and CS gas are authorized to address assaultive behavior,” McAleenan said, using a common term for tear gas.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-mcaleenan/trump-administration-official-defends-tear-gas-use-at-mexico-border-idUSKBN1OA1XM

[yonder]

1. And using a common term for "assaultive behavior":

Unwarranted use of pepper spray and CS gas.