A woman from Guatemala fell to her death while trying to climb the US and Mexico border wall. The US and Guatemalan authorities said that the woman died after she tried to cross the border near El Paso, Texas, last Saturday.
The US authorities said that Mirian Stephany Giron Luna, 19, was eight months pregnant as she tried to cross the border. The Guatemalan authorities said that she was seven months pregnant. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the smugglers who were bringing Giron to the US forced her to climb the wall even though she was pregnant. The US officials said that the country would work with Mexico to find the people responsible for the young woman's death.
Giron and her partner were being smuggled in through the border
CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan said that Giron and her partner were taken to the border by the smugglers and left there in the darkness. During her attempt to climb the wall she fell on her back leading to several injuries in various parts of her body. Her partner tried to find the border patrol as soon as she fell.
According to Guatemalan authorities, Giron suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, a pelvis fracture and liver and kidney lacerations. The officials were not able to save her despite surgical interventions. A medical personal even tried to deliver the baby but was not successful in the attempt.
Morgan told the reporters that the mother and the child passed away even after repeated attempts on Tuesday. Giron is said to be from Guatemala's San Marcos department, near the country's border with Mexico. Giron's partner remains in the Border Patrol detention. He told the Guatemalan consul in Del Rio, Texas, that if he knew the risks behind crossing the border he wouldn't have done it.
Several similar cases in the past year
Ever since the policy changes, the asylum seekers are finding extreme measures to get inside the US. The Guatemalan consul said that there have been seven similar cases in the past year alone. There has been a drastic rise in the number of asylum seekers because the migrants from violence-hit Central American countries no longer surrender en masse to the Border Patrol.
Policies such as 'remain in Mexico' are making it difficult for people to stay back in the country. Most of the border US shares with Mexico are fenced or has some kind of border patrol activity to restrain the people from going back and forth between the countries.
