A chaotic video has surfaced on the internet which shows hundreds of migrant workers storming across a major bridge linking Mexico to the US. According to a report by Fox News, a group of at least 1,000 migrants rushed the Paso Del Norte bridge to gain access to the United States.
The video shows the crowd screaming and pressing toward the fenced border. Another video shows the moment the migrants pushed onto the Paso Del Norte bridge from Juarez under a sign saying "Feliz Viaje," or happy travels.
According to a report by Mexican outlet Norte Digital, the migrants rushed to the bridge after a rumour said that the border was being opened to give them fast-tracked political asylum in the US. Elderly and young children can be seen running and racing toward the bridge.
Fox News reported Customs and Border Protection increased manpower in the area on the US side, whereas the Mexican military tried to contain the incident on the southern side of the bridge.
Migrants tried to get past the barbed wire and others begged to be let through.
New York Post reported that extra officers and barricades were used at the Bridge of the Americas and the Stanton-Lerdo one, CBP said.
At one point, some migrants attempted to hurl an orange, plastic barrier at the U.S. line, Reuters images show. Some people said pepper spray was deployed to repel them.
"Please, we just want to get in so we can help our families," said Camila Paz, an 18-year-old Venezuelan, sobbing heavily. "So I can have a future and help my family."
Neither U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) nor the Mexican government's national migration authority immediately replied to requests for comment.
After some pushing and shoving with the officials, the crowd of migrants eventually withdrew, with some heading down to the banks of the Rio Grande where they were monitored by U.S. immigration officials arrayed on the other side.
Many migrants have become fed up with the asylum process since the Biden administration made an app called CBP One available to them that was meant to streamline applications, Reuters reported.
