A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle is parked between a 30-foot high bollard (right) and a secondary bollard on the U.S.-Mexico border near the commercial port of entry in San Luis, Arizona. (Randy Hooft/Uma Sun via AP)
(NewsNation) — A man died and another was injured after falling from a border fence last month along the southern border near San Luis, Arizona, Customs and Border Protection said Monday.
Both were Mexican citizens.
At around 11:10 p.m. on June 22nd, CBP said:agents were dispatched there because a remote video surveillance system operator tracked four people climbing a fence by San Luis.
When investigators arrived at the scene, they found the man lying face down on the concrete under the border fence, his head bleeding.
An agent said the man was unconscious but had a pulse.Emergency medical services were called at 11:14 p.m.
Another man fell off a fence while the unconscious man was being rescued, injuring his back and abdomen but remaining conscious.
Two injured men were taken to the Yuma Regional Medical Center. One was injured in a hospital and was confirmed dead by medical staff at 12:09 am on June 23. The other man is in stable condition, CBP said.
A third man, seen stranded on top of the border fence, was rescued by the fire department and taken into custody by border guards. A fourth man was arrested on the north side of the wall.
CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility is currently investigating this incident. The Office of the Inspector General of Homeland Security was also notified.
According to data provided to NewsNation by the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, the number of illegal immigrants who died near the border fence doubled from 34 to 69 from 2021 to 2022. So far this year, 14 deaths have been recorded. In comparison, 16 illegal immigrants died in the region in 2020.
Yuma County Sheriff’s Office public relations specialist Tania Pavlak said the agency not only tracks deaths from border fence falls, but also deaths from other causes, such as heat exposure and other heat-related illnesses. said it does.
of Arizona Republic Since the installation of the 30-foot-tall bollard fence under former President Donald Trump, paramedics in San Luis have reported a “significant increase” in the number of fence-related injuries. Previously, barrier heights ranged from 18 to 22 feet.
Barbed wire has been strung above and below the fence to prevent crossing, but the Yuma area remains one of the busiest for border patrols, the paper said.
This happens when fighting continues across a barrier along another area of the southwestern border. The Justice Department on Monday sued Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott over a floating barrier that Texas put up on the Rio Grande to keep immigrants from crossing.
In its lawsuit, the Justice Department is asking a court to compel Texas to move a 1,000-foot line of orange buoys on the river.
The Biden administration has said these buoys raise humanitarian and environmental concerns.
“President Biden’s border enforcement plan has pushed the number of illegal border crossings to their lowest level in two years. It makes it difficult to perform security duties and puts immigrants and border agents at risk,” White House spokesman Abdullah Hassan said.
Abbott, meanwhile, defended the buoy, saying Texas has a “sovereign” interest in protecting its border from Mexico, according to Border Reports.
“Neither of us wants to see another death on the Rio Grande. We encourage people to risk their lives,” Abbott wrote in a letter Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
