Photo: GUILLERMO ARIAS / AFP / Getty Images
For: EFE Posted 27 Jan 2023, 22:10 pm EST
SAN DIEGO – The number of mexican immigrants killed while crossing the border from Mexico into the county of San Diego in California It increased by 163% in the last three years, while those injured in the same period total 646, according to a consular protection investigation.
The Mexicans who lost their lives trying to enter California in San Diego County totaled 99 and they went from 16 in fiscal year 2020 to 41 in 2021 and to 42 in fiscal year 2022, which ended in September of last year.
Eight out of every 10 Mexicans killed or injured fell from the 30-foot (nine-meter) border wall. “Empirical evidence has allowed us to verify that taller walls have not been able to stop or divert migratory flows, but have only increased the severity of injuries and deaths,” said the Mexican consul in San Diego, Carlos González Gutiérrez.
In 2022, 42 Mexican nationals lost their lives while trying to cross the Tijuana – San Diego border. During the last 3 fiscal years, at least 646 Mexican nationals have been hospitalized or have died in their attempt to cross the T/SD border, between ports of entry. Press release 👉🏽: pic.twitter.com/MMk73l3WS8
— Carlos González Gtez (@carlos_glezgtez) January 27, 2023
Asking his countrymen to be aware that crossing the border over the wall can be fatal, the consul warned that human smugglers may encourage people to cross over the barrier without warning them of the risk.
“People who do not have documents and wish to cross the border into the United States between ports of entry should be aware of the existence of smuggling networks that distort reality, create false expectations, and expose migrants to serious or fatal injuries,” warned the Mexican consul in San Diego.
The three-year investigation was based on interviews by the staff of the consular protection office of the diplomatic headquarters in San Diego with each Mexican who is injured and with witnesses in the cases of deaths.
“The interviews carried out by the Department of Protection have been fundamental in providing assistance to Mexican nationals, a fact that represents the highest priority of the Government of Mexico,” the consul said in a statement.
He mentioned that the University of California San Diego (UCSD) found in a recent study that the increase in cases of injuries and deaths of Mexicans It has been recorded since the US government replaced the old 10-foot (three-meter) high wall, built in the 1990s, with the 30-foot one ordered by now former President Donald Trump (2017-2021).
The consulate indicated that it is part of the Border Wall Fall Injury Prevention working group to prevent injuries from falls from the border wall, which brings together accident prevention coordinators from the main hospitals in San Diego, as well as social workers, academics and non-governmental organizations. .
Mexican families who wish to obtain information on injured or missing persons, or who require consular assistance and protection, can contact the Center for Information and Attention to Mexicans at number 1 520-623-7874, or the consulate’s emergency line at +1 619-843-6399, or email proteccion@consulmexsd.org.
The UCSD trauma study, released in the middle of last year, reported an unprecedented increase in the number of hospitalized patients with injuries such as skull, leg, arm or rib fractures, many of them difficult to save because the terrain in the section where the migrants fell and the conditions of their injuries delayed the rescue.
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