‘There were children,’ says migrant mother tear-gassed at US border

A refugee women who were photographed at US-Mexico border, says that she never thought that the US cops will use teargas as there were a lot of children. Maria Meza, 35, came all the way from Honduras to enter US.

She with her five children and hundreds of other Central American migrants were blocked by Mexican police and staged a protest in front of the border, some rushing the U.S fence.

Three tear gas canisters shot from the U.S. side landed around Meza and her children, who range in age from toddlers to teenagers. “The first thing I did was grab my children,” said Meza. A photo of her clutching the hands of twin five-year-old daughters Saira and Cheili, as her 13-year-old daughter Jamie runs alongside, has gone viral and sparked angry reactions from some lawmakers and charities. “I was scared, and I thought I was going to die with them because of the gas,” said Meza.

Her young son James nearly fainted when a canister landed near him. Meza fell and struggled to get up amidst the gas. A young man gave her his hand and pulled her to her feet. “We never thought they were going to fire these bombs where there were children because there were lots of children,” said Meza, sitting in view of the rusted-steel U.S. border fence.

“I came here for one reason, and that’s because there is a lot of violence in Honduras,” said Meza, as her children played with empty tear gas canisters shot by the Border Patrol. The United States shut the crossing for several hours and Trump has threatened to close the border entirely.

“If they close the border I ask God that here in Tijuana, or in another country they open doors to us, to allow me to survive with my children,” said Meza.