A man from Mexico has died after falling from the border wall in Texas, according to the Border Patrol.
On March 16, the unnamed 31-year-old was spotted climbing the border barrier on the Mexican side of the Paso Del Norte International Bridge in El Paso.
When Border Patrol agents arrived, the man was lying unconscious on the American side with injuries to his body and head.
The man was sent to an El Paso hospital where he was placed on life support until being declared dead on March 22.
This comes as more immigrants get themselves injured as they try to enter the U.S. illegally by climbing the border wall, which can be 30 feet high in some places.
El Paso immigrant advocate Ruben Garcia told reporters that he’s seeing immigrants who’ve hurt themselves on the wall two or three times a week.
“We’re receiving a 23-year-old ingenious woman from Guatemala who fell off the fence– fractured her ankle and then fractured her back. She’s coming to us in a wheelchair. We get those all of the time, all of the time,” said Garcia.
He added that immigrants pay smugglers to get them into the country over the border wall using makeshift ladders and other climbing instruments.
“You need to understand, if I’m a smuggler, there’s only one issue,” Garcia explained. “There’s only one consideration and that’s money. I’m going to help you get on top of that fence. I’m going to give you a ladder, or just a rope with knots that you’re supposed to be able to climb. As you come down, then you’re on your own.”
Last week, the Biden administration announced that it would be ending former President Donald Trump’s Title 42 policy, which allowed the U.S. Border Patrol to turn migrants away to avoid the spread of COVID-19 inside border detention facilities.
The agency has expressed concern that this could lead to a possible surge in illegal immigrants that could overwhelm them. They also claim that a large number of migrants in Mexican cities are currently waiting for the order to drop.
“We are expecting to get wrecked,” a Border Patrol agent told reporters.
Title 42 will end on May 23, giving the Department of Homeland Security time to prepare for an expected increase in migrants at the border.
