Nearly a dozen illegal immigrants were hurt over the weekend while trying to scale a border wall that separates California and Mexico.
The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department says it took ten people to the hospital with mild to moderate injuries. Their ages ranged from 18 to mid-40s.
Four of the injured were taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital, including three people who were traveling with five children, all under the age of 11, Chris Van Gorder, the president of Scripps Health, told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
The hospital provided childcare while their parents were being treated.
Volunteers setup provisions for distribution to migrants in front of a 30-foot wall, seen beside an older 18-foot wall, on October 10, 2023, in San Diego, California. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
The incident came days after a man believed to be in his late 20s died trying to get around the border wall.
Officials say they’ve seen a significant increase in trauma cases since the border wall’s height was increased during the Trump administration, which began replacing sections that ranged less than 20 feet with 30-foot steel bollard barriers.
In 2021, when President Biden took office, UC San Diego Health treated nearly 450 patients who had fallen from border walls – up from fewer than 60 patients just two years prior.
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The pattern follows wider trends of illegal crossings diverting to blue states at the southern border this year as Texas has implemented tougher policies and rhetoric to combat the issue in the absence of federal help.
Internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data provided to Fox News shows that Border Patrol apprehended more than 141,000 illegal immigrants in February. Of those, more than 70% were in Arizona, California, and New Mexico – all of which, are run by Democratic governors.
Texas, which has five out of nine Border Patrol sectors along the Southern border and has traditionally seen the most activity, saw around 42,000 apprehensions of illegal immigrants – or just under 30% of apprehensions nationwide – in February.
FILE: Migrants attempt to cross Mexico-United States border despite heightened security measures, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on February 01, 2024. (David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Texas, in recent months, has been testing the limits of how far the state can go in keeping illegal immigrants out of the country, irking the Biden administration in the process.
On Monday, the Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a new Texas law that allows police to arrest migrants who enter the country illegally.
The emergency request came after a federal appeals court stayed U.S. District Judge David Ezra’s sweeping rejection of the law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
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The law is set to take effect Saturday unless the Supreme Court intervenes. The Justice Department told the court that the law would profoundly alter “the status quo that has existed between the United States and the States in the context of immigration for almost 150 years.”
Under the Texas law, state officers can arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, people arrested can agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the country or face a misdemeanor charge for entering the U.S. illegally. Migrants who don’t leave after being ordered to do so could be arrested again and charged with a more serious felony.
FILE: Concertina wire lines the path as members of Congress tour an area near the Texas-Mexico border, Jan. 3, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. A (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
The battle over the Texas immigration law, known as Senate Bill 4, is one of multiple legal disputes between Texas officials and the Biden administration over how far the state can go to patrol the Texas-Mexico border and prevent illegal border crossings.
Several Republican governors have backed Abbott’s efforts, saying the federal government is not doing enough to enforce existing immigration laws.
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Some of Abbott’s attempts to impede illegal border crossings have included a floating barrier in the Rio Grande and placing razor wire along the state’s boundary with Mexico. State guard officers have also blocked U.S. Border Patrol agents from accessing a riverfront park in Eagle Pass that was previously used by federal agents to process migrants.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
