U.S. Border Patrol agents were "being assaulted" when the decision was made to fire tear gas canisters at people trying to rush the U.S.-Mexico border in California Sunday, Border Patrol chief Carla Provost said Monday, while insisting a wall is needed to replace outdated fencing at the nation's busiest border crossing.
"A large group rushed the area and they were throwing rocks and bottles at my men and women, putting them in harm's way, as well as other members of the caravan," Provost told Fox News' "Fox and Friends."
"It was imperative we disperse them from the area."
Sunday, Central American migrants, mostly men, tried to breach the border crossing, but Provost said the tear gas was fired after the migrants threw bottles and rocks at the guards, not because of the act of them trying to come across the border.
The fencing in the location is at least 26-years-old, "and quite a bit of that is, what we call landing mat fencing from the Vietnam era," said Provost. "It is certainly out of date, it does not meet our requirement for what we need with a wall."
She added that approximately 6,000 migrants have arrived in the Tijuana area, and another 2,000 in the Mexicali region, and there are more on the way.
Mexican authorities are also helping with the situation, Provost said.
"We work with our partners in Mexico continuously," she said. "We have a shared border, and of course a shared concern for the safety and security of both communities in Tijuana and the San Diego area," said Provost. "So we work very closely with our partners."