Taller Border Wall Led to Five-Fold Increase in Severe Injuries: Report
THE CRUELTY IS THE POINT
The number of serious injuries sustained by people climbing new, higher sections of ex-President Donald Trump’s “unclimbable” border wall has increased five-fold, according to a new study from UC San Diego Health. After parts of the wall were raised from 17 feet to 30 feet, “trauma-related incidents due to falls” went from 67 cases between 2016 and 2019 to 375 between 2019 and 2021,” the study found. Fatalities also spiked, from zero to 16. “The height increase of the border wall along the San Ysidro and El Centro sectors was touted as making the barrier ‘unclimbable,’ but that has not stopped people from attempting to do so with consequential results,” study co-author Dr. Amy Liepert said in a statement. “This is an unseen public health crisis happening right now and it has significantly affected major local health care providers in San Diego.” Patients have come in with “significant brain and facial injuries and complex fractures of their extremities or spine,” the study said, noting that many people “required ICU care and multiple surgical procedures.”