Demonstrators from opposing sides confront each other while being separated by Murrieta police officers on Friday, July 4, 2014, outside a U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta, Calif.MURRIETA, Calif. – Rumors had swirled among anti-immigration activists near a U.S. Border Patrol station in Southern California that the agency would try again to bus in some of the immigrants who have flooded across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Instead, by late Friday afternoon, they got dueling anti- and pro-immigration rallies.
The crowd of 200 outside the station in Murrieta waved signs and sometimes shouted at each other. One banner read: “Proud LEGAL American. It doesn’t work any other way.” Another countered: “Against illegal immigration? Great! Go back to Europe!”
Law enforcement officers separated the two sides, leaving enough space for a bus to drive into the station.
It was not certain, however, that any buses would arrive on Friday. Because of security concerns, federal authorities have said, they will not publicize immigrant transfers among border patrol facilities.