Border wall leaves legacy of misery for migrants

Donald Trump might be out of office in the United States but the impact of the border wall erected during his presidency is still playing out with increased deaths among migrants. Aside from the toll on human life, animals are also dying as a consequence of the controversial structure.

A study has shown that two trauma centers near the San Diego-Tijuana border crossing have seen an increase in the number of patients since the 30-foot (9.1-meter) border wall was installed in 2019, according to a paper published online on the JAMA Surgery website, run by the American Medical Association.

The paper, written by doctors at UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest, California, and Scripps Mercy Hospital, indicated that while the migrant traffic remained roughly the same, injuries among the migrants increased by five times over the past three years－after the wall was raised from its previous 18 feet－compared with the three prior years.

The number of border-wall deaths increased from zero in 2016-18 to 14 in 2019-21, while hospital admissions of border-wall patients increased from 100 to 593 for the same periods at the two hospitals.

Jay Doucet, chief of the trauma division at UC San Diego Health, told The Washington Post: "Once you go over 20 feet, and up to 30 feet, the chance of severe injury and death are higher. We're seeing injuries we didn't see before: pelvic fractures, spinal cord injuries, brain injuries and a lot of open fractures when the bone comes through the skin."

In Texas, it was reported that 229 migrants were injured in border barrier falls in the El Paso sector in the first seven months of the 2022 fiscal year (starting from October 2021), according to El Paso's Border Patrol.

In March alone, at least one woman from Honduras and one man from Mexico were reported to have died from a border-wall fall in El Paso.

As for the harm caused to animals, the impact has been set out in a 13-minute film American Scar, which was released at the end of April.

The film examined sections of the wall covering about 650 kilometers along the Mexican border in Arizona and documented the wall-induced ecological damage that threatens desert animals.

Myles Traphagen, a conservator for the Wildlands Network, was featured in the film. He has been working at the border since the 1990s. He said the border wall didn't need to be built in many sections of the federal land because there have been virtually no migrant crossings due to mountain ranges that serve as a natural barrier.

Environmental threat

The film showed that the border wall area in Arizona is full of wildlife－deer, bobcats and bears, among others. With the wall, animals are cut off from part of their natural habitat and sources of food, water and shelter. Some didn't make it and died by the metal border wall. The border wall threatens the survival of more than 70 plant and animal species.

A small portion of the border wall in Texas was built by a private campaign called "We Build the Wall" that has its own set of problems.

Brian Kolfage, a US Air Force veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart medal for his service in Iraq, launched crowdfunding for the campaign in 2018 in support of Trump's border wall campaign.

The project raised $25 million. However, Kolfage and several others involved in the project were accused of using some of the funds for personal use.

While the border wall remains controversial, more people in the US are evidently worrying about migrant flows. A Gallup poll in March found that 41 percent of respondents were worried "a great deal" about illegal immigration, while 19 percent were worried "a fair amount". That means 6 out of 10 of the respondents are concerned about the issue.