Migrant Mother Injured Trying to Scale US-Mexico Border Fence With Children
Migrant Mother Injured Trying to Scale US-Mexico Border Fence With Children
The undocumented woman and her children were not part of the migrant caravan currently making its way to the US-Mexico border, a U.S. Border Patrol official said
By NBC 7 Staff
Published 34 minutes ago | Updated 26 minutes ago
An undocumented migrant mother was injured at the U.S.-Mexico border in south San Diego late Friday when she tried to illegally enter the United States by climbing a barbed wire fence with her two children.
The incident happened at East San Ysidro Boulevard and Rail Court. U.S. Border Patrol agent Tekae Michael told NBC 7 the mother was impaled by the concertina wiring on the fence, injuring her hip area.
The children – whose ages were not disclosed – had also attempted to climb the fence with their mother but were not hurt, Michael said.
The mother was taken to a local hospital for treatment; the children were also taken to a hospital, as a precaution, for medical evaluation.
Michael said the family is from Guatemala but the Border Patrol agent said they were not part of the migrant caravan currently heading to the nation’s southern border.
Michael said the mother would be treated, processed by Border Patrol and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It is unclear, at this point, what will happen to the children.
The fence at the U.S.-Mexico border has been reinforced for the past few weeks to keep migrants from illegally climbing into the U.S. as a caravan of thousands of migrants from Central America makes its way to the border.
The migrant caravan has made its way by foot and bus from Central America to the southern border of Mexico and from there to Tijuana, where thousands are now living in overcrowded shelters until they can seek asylum from the U.S.
In response to this potential influx of migrants, the Department of Defense sent approximately 5,800 active duty, reserve and National Guard troops – including 1,100 Camp Pendleton-based U.S. Marines – to span the border to assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the “hardening” of the border. Concertina wiring was added to the border fence, too.
Last week, when DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen toured the fence she told reporters that those border fortification efforts would continue with the help of the military.
“This is a border wall with row upon row of concertina wire,” said Nielsen. “Make no mistake – we are very serious. You will not get into our country illegally.”
Nielsen called the migrant caravan a “crisis” that could mean serious trouble for the U.S. She said traveling with the caravan does not give migrants “a special right to enter this country” and that those migrants would have to “get in line” when it comes to the asylum-seeking process.
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