Nearly a dozen injured after falling from border wall, officials say


The Tijuana suburbs can be seen through the primary border fence at the US-Mexico Border at Otay Mesa in 2019. (John Gibbins/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The hospitalizations came just days after a man died trying to cross a barrier west of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

by BLAKE NELSON
MARCH 2, 2024

Eleven people were hurt Saturday after falling from a border fence by the Tijuana River Valley, the latest in a rising tide of injuries since the federal government increased the size of barriers separating the United States from Mexico.

The Border Patrol alerted San Diego’s fire department about the falls around 4 p.m., Battalion Chief Matt Nilsen said.

The call came from 1280 Monument Road, less than a mile from Mexico. Ten people were taken to hospitals with “minor to moderate” injuries, according to Nilsen.

Four of the patients were taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital and three of those were parents who were traveling with children. In all there were five children, all under the age of 11, according to Chris Van Gorder, the president of Scripps Health.

The hospital placed the parents in private rooms and babysitters were provided for the children. Scripps’ social workers were involved, Gorder said.

Nobody appeared to be in critical condition.

The falls came just days after a man died trying to cross the fence in an area west of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. He was believed to be in his late 20s and with a small group of people trying to cross over from Mexico.

Joseph Ciacci, a neurosurgeon at UC San Diego Health, previously said he’s seen a fivefold increase in trauma cases since the wall height increased.

“It’s pretty striking,” he said.

In 2019, the Trump administration began replacing the region’s barriers with taller, 30-foot bollard-style fencing.

While UC San Diego Health treated fewer than 60 patients that year who’d fallen from border walls, the total had jumped to nearly 450 two years later.

Twenty-nine Mexican nationals died in 2023 while trying to cross into the San Diego region, according to data from Mexico’s consulate. Another 120 were hurt.

Drowning and dehydration were also threats.

Last year’s numbers were actually an improvement over 2022, when 42 nationals died and 124 were injured.