‘Human Bodies Are Being Wrecked’

The growing number of migrants being injured after falling from the U.S.-Mexico border wall has sparked anger.

Eleven people were hurt on Saturday after falling on the San Diego side of the wall that separates the United States and Mexico.

Ten people, ranging in age from 18 to the mid-40s, were transported to the hospital with “mild to moderate” injuries, the most serious being a broken leg, a spokesperson for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department told Newsweek.

It came just days after a man died after falling from the fence in an area west of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

Illegal immigration has become a central issue ahead of the 2024 election, with former President Donald Trump saying he wants to deploy thousands of troops to guard the southern border to protect the U.S. from what he calls an “invasion.” Arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico reached an all-time high in December before dropping in January.

Injuries and deaths, many from falls, have risen significantly since the Trump administration replaced existing barriers that were less than 20 feet tall with 30-foot steel bollard barriers in a bid to deter illegal crossings.

“Higher walls cause more migrant injuries,” Michael Dear, emeritus professor at UC Berkeley and author of Why Walls Won’t Work: Repairing the US-Mexico Divide, told Newsweek via email.

“This is not rocket science, simply gravity. Either way, more human bodies are being wrecked.”

Walls “don’t stop determined migrants from finding ways over, around, under, and through fences,” he added.

Peter Andreas, a professor of political science at Brown University, said it should be “no surprise” to anyone that there have been more injuries from falls from the border wall.

An anti-climbing feature that was added to new sections of the border wall being built at Friendship Park between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, “looks less dangerous than the rolls of barbed wire that one sees elsewhere along the border, so it is a bit deceptive,” he told Newsweek.

“Perhaps that is the purpose of the design—make the border barrier look less menacing even if it is not? One thing is for certain: this adaptation of border barriers will predictably lead to adaptations in finding ways to overcome border barriers.”

Doctors at UC San Diego Health treated 455 patients with serious injuries sustained while trying to cross the border in 2023, The Guardian reported last month.

Alexander Tenorio, a resident neurosurgeon at UCSD who treats brain and spinal cord injuries, told CBS 8 that the hospital is treating 10 times more migrants with injuries since the the height of the border wall was increased in 2019.

“Not only are the numbers going up, but the severity of these injuries—it’s much, much worse,” Tenorio said.

Twenty-nine Mexican nationals died in 2023 while trying to cross into the San Diego region, down from 42 the previous year, according to the Mexican consulate. Another 120 were injured in 2023.

Masih Fouladi, the executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center, told Newsweek that the rise in injuries is “the inevitable outcome” of an immigration policy designed with “an inhumane approach.”

“Immigrant rights organizations made it clear from the time that taller, 30-foot border walls were proposed under the Trump administration that these structures would only increase the risk of injury and death to migrants,” Fouladi said.

“Subsequent reports by UC San Diego Health and the Mexican government have verified this fear.”

However, some have defended the border wall, and believe deterring illegal crossings is vital for the safety of American citizens.

Kate Monroe, who along with several other veterans has been repairing damage to barriers along California’s border with Mexico, has urged others to join the group.

“WE THE PEOPLE can protect our nation. WE are the answer to these problems,” Monroe, who is running for a California congressional seat, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.