Death of a migrant at the US-Mexico border

Two migrants fell from a 30-foot (more than 9 meters) border wall at the US-Mexico border in San Ysidro, California, media recently reported, killing one of them.

According to a spokesperson for the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), officers discovered both migrants after they fell to the ground. One of them was unresponsive and later died on arrival at the hospital, while the other suffered unspecified injuries.

The World Socialist Web Site wrote: These deaths and injuries are entirely preventable; they are the fault of the Democrats and Republicans, who are spending billions of dollars to militarize and close the border as part of a broader war on democratic rights.

While the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) do not record deaths or injuries from falls by immigrants, the San Diego Medical Center Trauma Center reported a five-fold increase in injuries from falls from the wall in 2022; the center also said the death rate went from zero to 16 in the years after the border wall was raised.

Scripps Mercy Hospital and San Diego Medical Center Trauma Center reported a 58 percent increase in falls in 2024, with 524 people injured or dying after falling from the wall (about 2 per day). That’s about three times the 189 falls recorded in 2023 and more than twice the 239 falls recorded in 2022.

Blocking legal routes forces desperate asylum seekers and migrants to risk their lives through harrowing ordeals that carry a high risk of injury or death.

The United States’ anti-immigration policies force migrants to seek out more dangerous routes to enter the country; these routes are far more dangerous and the response time in the event of a medical emergency is much longer.

In another case, three migrants who were trying to enter the United States near San Diego recently died in a storm in the Otay Mountains. The U.S. Border Patrol said in a statement that people traveling through the Otay Mountains routinely face risks of dehydration, hunger, heatstroke and hypotension.

Traveling the U.S.-Mexico border via unofficial routes is so dangerous that it is considered the deadliest land route in the world for migrants. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded more than 680 deaths and disappearances of migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022.

While comprehensive figures for 2024 are not yet available, New Mexico reported 108 suspected migrant deaths along its border in the first eight months of the year. That’s more than 10 times the number the state recorded in 2020 (nine) and 2019 (ten). The state also reported more than 117 deaths during the year in 2023.

In addition to blocking immigrants from entering the United States, Washington is continuing its fascist campaign to target immigrants inside the United States, regardless of their legal status. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are detaining an increasing number of students and workers who have lived in the United States for decades.