For a new life in the United States, some will risk life and limb. A study shows attempts at scaling the U.S.-Mexico border wall, which is 30 feet high in some places, are increasing, and many of them end in falls that cause serious injury.
“Our emergency rooms in the hospitals here in San Diego have seen across the last several years a tremendous of serious injuries by people falling from this newly-heightened border wall,” John Fanestil with the Coalition of Friends of Friendship Park said.
The latest incident happened Saturday when agents found two people who appeared to have fallen from the border fence near Border Field State Park, according to a department official with Customs and Border Protection.
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The migrants were taken to the hospital for a medical evaluation.
“Many people underestimate the kind of risk that they are taking in trying to scale these 30-foot walls,” Fanestil said.
Since the border fence height has nearly doubled, it’s resulted in more extreme injuries and in some instances, even fatalities, he added.
“Broken legs, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries,” Fanestil said.
Just last month, a woman died from a fall at the border fence near Otay Mesa.
Sixty-seven cases of trauma-related incidents were reported due to falls at the border fence between 2016 and 2019, according to a study conducted by UC San Diego Health.
The report found that due to the lack of health insurance and their residency status, many migrant patients were not eligible for rehab services, leading to longer hospital stays.
The Division Chief of Trauma and Surgical Care at UC San Diego Health called this a local and public health crisis, saying it puts a strain on San Diego Hospital Resources.
“People are being severely injured or dying at the border and because this is happening, it’s impacting available access to trauma care for San Diegans as well," the chief said.
The study also found that hospital costs for border fence-injured migrants alone were estimated to be approximately $13 million in 2019-2021.
