Migrants reach US border and climb over wall; Mattis says he’s on the way

As Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis makes his way to the border, part of the infamous “migrant caravan” that has been marching towards the United States has reached the border between America and Mexico.

The splinter group -which broke away from the 5,000-plus caravan and consist mostly of women and people of the LGBTQ persuasion- is around 400-strong and was rushed to the border by bus and allegedly left the caravan due to safety concerns, namely discrimination and sexual assault.

According to the BBC, the migrants wish to claim asylum in the United States and began their journey a month ago in Honduras, picking up more people in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to arrive at the border today, visiting and reviewing the thousands of US military personnel that have been deployed there.

Video has surfaced on social media of migrants illegally crossing over the fence that separates Tijuana from the USA , openly taunting the seemingly powerless agents of the US Border Patrol.

“We are not afraid of you!” one migrant shouted from the other side of the rickety fence separating the two nations. “We are not afraid!”

In multiple video recordings, the Border Patrol agents stand by their ATVs, watching as an illegal immigrant waves his hat and dances about on US soil.

Much of the US Border remains largely porous and in a state of disrepair, with a five-mile stretch along the border that separates Tijuana from California unchanged since the 1990s, when Navy Seabees and Army Reservists replaced rusted chain-link fence with surplus landing mats, which are generally used to create temporary airstrips.

Spitefully referred to as the “Steel Curtain” by Mexicans at the time of its construction, the bolstering of the fence nearly thirty years ago seems less effective now, as time, policy and politics appear to have rendered the curtain no better than the chain-link fence it replaces.

With Defense Secretary Mattis arriving on the scene and more of the caravan closing in on America’s literal “last line of defense,” it is unknown how the situation will unfold.

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