SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Almost five years ago, the height of the border wall went from 17 to 30 feet in many areas along the US-Mexico border, especially in San Diego.
Since then, migrant deaths off the coast of San Diego have increased by 3,200 percent, according to a report in the Times of San Diego.
The article is based on a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA. It was written by Anna Lussier, M.D, Ph.D. student in the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, and Dr. Peter Lindholm, the Gurnee Endowed Chair of Hyperbaric and Diving Medicine Research and professor in residence in the Department of Emergency Medicine at UCSD School of Medicine.
The Times of San Diego article says the UC San Diego personnel hypothesized that “the change in wall height may have resulted in an increase in marine and maritime migration attempts, resulting in more frequent drownings.”
According to the researchers, drownings in the San Diego region of the Pacific Ocean rose from 1 in the four years before the wall height changed to 33 in the four years after, an increase of more than 3,000 percent.
“We’re trying to determine the actual cause of death: hypothermia? Hypoxia? Swimming-induced pulmonary edema?” Lindholm said.
UC San Diego issued a statement saying researchers’ end goals is to better understand medical outcomes among migrants who survive drowning, such as infections from contaminated water, lung injuries — even impacts on mental health.
The statement went on to say, “Scientists are also hoping to provide data that can inform decision-making for policymakers and EMS systems, as well as those who provide medical care to migrants who survive marine migrations.”
On the other hand, researchers have also found that the taller border walls have also led to more injuries from falls in the past four years.
A Texas Tech surgeon told Border Report last year that based on emergency room and hospital data, the injuries are more severe.
“There was a wall prior to 2019, but it was shorter, and we saw five to 10 patients a year. For the last two years, we have seen around 250. So, there are more patients, and the injuries are more severe,” said Dr. Susan McLean, professor of surgery at Texas Tech University.
