A new paper published in JAMA Surgery has unveiled the unprecedented surge in high-severity injuries and falls by migrants in an effort to illegally breach the country’s federal laws via the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
A team of experts at the University of California, San Diego found that since 2019, there has been a five-time increase in injuries and trauma from falls amid the jumping of the border wall from eight to 17 feet to 30 feet.
“The height increase of the border wall along the San Ysidro and El Centro sectors was touted as making the barrier unclimbable, but that has not stopped people from attempting to do so with consequential results,” said one co-author of the study in a news release.
“This is an unseen public health crisis happening right now and it has significantly affected major local health care providers in San Diego.”
According to experts, the number of severe injuries spiked from 67 to 375 between 2019 and 2021. Fatalities are also on the rise, with that number projected to increase amid further migration through the U.S.-Mexico border.
The new findings suggest a massive policy failure that warrants further assessment of the effects of new barriers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Future efforts at mitigating the humanitarian crisis at the border should also consider the potential impact on the health care system resources in those regions.
