Risking their lives to cross the border, the number of migrants and casualties at the US border skyrocketed

Since border wall built high by the US, along with the country’s anti-COVID-19 policy being tightened at the border, the immigrants to the US risked his life, trying different ways such as changing course and even crossing the sea in dangerous border areas.

American medical workers in the state of California have seen the consequences of accidents become more and more serious, from broken bones and punctured lungs to miscarriages. Their patients are migrants who fell from the border wall in an attempt to evade the US government’s order to tighten the border against COVID-19.

Section 42, which has been in place for more than two years now, allows US officials to deport anyone simply because they suspect that person has COVID-19

Before the pandemic, in 2019, the border wall between the US and Mexico was raised from 5 m to more than 9 m in some locations. The road to the US was difficult and even more difficult. Many migrants have risked their lives. In the past two years, 375 people have been injured, 16 people have died from falling from the border wall.

Dr Jay Doucet, Head of Trauma Surgery, University of California Health System, said: “We started to see, in 2019, when the 30-foot wall was completed in the city of San Diego and one part of Imperial County, the number of injured people increased greatly. The severity of the injuries also increased because the border crossing person fell from a greater height than before. And we recorded deaths for the first time. died from falling from the border wall. We did not record this before.”

Mr. Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee, said: “During the pandemic, many migrants become very desperate and frustrated because they cannot find a way to enter the border. Therefore, many people crossed the border through very dangerous, remote areas, for example through deserts, mountains or seas”.

In addition to the difficulty caused by Article 42 and the towering border wall, people crossing the southern border of the United States also face the risk of starvation, drowning. 557 people have died here in 2021, more than double the number of 2018. “Death” is like that, but the number of people crossing the border into the US is still increasing. The US Border Force recorded a record 1.73 million encounters with people crossing the border in the 12 months to September 2021. This year, the number is trending even higher. Many migrants belong to the group that crossed the border many times.

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