Customs and Border Protection has released new details following the death of a migrant who fell around 30 feet to her death along the border between the Otay Mesa and San Ysidro ports of entry.
CBP says the 24-year-old Guatemalan citizen was attempting to scale the border fence two weeks ago but couldn’t hang on after making it to the other side of it.
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Just as the debate over the border fence height and whose responsible for taking care of those who try to cross over continue, so do attempts to scale it that end in severe injuries and death.
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The most recent fence line fall happened two weeks ago around 10:30 at night, just behind a CBP station and 2-and-a-half miles east of the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
NBC 7 put together a timeline from the CBP and San Diego Fire-Rescue Department reports.
It started with a CBP service call that indicated several people were approaching the secondary international border fence with a ladder.
- 10:31 p.m. - Agent radioed woman was stuck on north side of fence, requests SDFD (CBP)
- 10:33 p.m. - Agent tells woman to hold on and not let go (CBP)
- 10:34 p.m. - SDFD dispatches Engine 43 (SDFD)
- 10:34 p.m. - Unknown person approaches from nearby business offering ladder, CBP agent denies needing assistance (CBP)
- 10:35 p.m. - SDFD dispatches Chula Vista Fire Department Truck 57 (SDFD)
- 10:43 p.m. - SDFD Engine 43 arrives at scene, tells agents they are unable to reach the patient from the location (SDFD)
- 10:45 p.m. - Second agent arrived at scene on south side of secondary fence with SDFD apparatus, were told person was stuck on other side (CBP)
They were on the wrong side of the fence. The fire engine attempted to get through a gate 500 feet from the woman but couldn’t, then went looking for an alternate route.
- 10:48 p.m. - Second agent and SDFD engine depart for north side of fence (CBP)
- 10:50 p.m. - Second agent arrived on north side of fence. Woman began yelling for them to hurry (CBP)
- 10:52 p.m. - Chula Vista FD Truck 57 arrives at scene (SDFD)
- 10:54 p.m. - Woman yelled she was going to fall, and then fell to the concrete base of the fence below (CBP)
- 10:59 p.m. - Another agent arrived to where the woman had fallen, advised woman had head trauma and was unresponsive (CBP)
- 11:04 p.m. - SDFD apparatus arrived to woman’s location (CBP)
Migrant advocate Lilian Serrano, who keeps her eye on incidents like these at the U.S.-Mexico border says while tragic, it is refreshing and rare to have CBP release such a detailed report.
“This report is a good first step into shining a light into the actions of agents. We want to identify whether it is a lack of training or policies in place,“ Serrano said.
Serrano says she still has many questions, such as how the fire engine ended up on the wrong side of the rescue.
“It seems that maybe the emergency services didn’t have the right information or didn’t have the right access to the specific location,“ Serrano said.
A San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesperson told NBC 7: "CBP did the right thing by telling us the height of the wall at that initial location, but CBP did not provide SDFD with the best access point to the patient.”
CBP says the San Diego Fire Department Professional Standards Unit and the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General were notified about this critical incident.
A SDFD spokesperson would not confirm whether they were investigating the incident themselves.
Portions of the attempted rescue were captured on body-worn cameras. CBP says the video will be released as soon as it is appropriate to do so and will not impact the ongoing law enforcement investigations.
