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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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Newly released footage shows the horrific moment a migrant, trapped on top of the U.S.-Mexico Border wall in California, falls to her death as Border Patrol agents attempt to reassure her that help was on the way.
Bodycam video from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shows the woman was stuck for at least 24 minutes, pleading for help several times before she plunges from the top of the 30-foot wall.
The victim was identified as 24-year-old Petronila Elizabeth Poma Perez, a Guatemalan national.
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The incident occurred on March 21 around 10:30 pm, in the California border town of Otay Mesa, about halfway between the Otay Mesa and San Ysidro ports of entry.
The bodycam video shows an officer arriving on the south side of the northern border wall and speaking to Poma Perez in Spanish. He asks her to stay where she is while first responders are called.
The officer radios for assistance at 10:31 p.m., and a few minutes pass as he continues to order her to stay put, saying the fire department is en route.
At one point, an unidentified person approaches the fence and asks a CBP agent if a nearby ladder could be used to rescue the woman, to which the agent replies that they needed to wait for the fire department to arrive. The full bodycam footage can be viewed here.
Fourteen minutes after that first radio call, a San Diego Fire Department truck pulls up, but on the wrong side of the wall.
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The fire truck couldn't make the sharp turn through the nearest gate, officials said, and had to take a longer route around.
"While the environment at the border is very challenging, there are thousands of examples over the years where our crews, in concert with CBP agents, have saved lives," the San Diego Fire Department (SDFD) said in a statement.
"Our personnel feel horrible when a fatality occurs because our intent is always to rescue, render aid, and get those folks who need further medical care to the hospital."
SDFD said CBP officers directed the firefighters to the side of the wall where crews could not reach the woman with a ground ladder.
At 10:54 p.m., Poma Perez can be heard pleading for assistance in Spanish, saying she is about to fall.
The victim then plunges to the ground. A border agent found her unresponsive with massive head trauma and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
On the bodycam footage, CBP agents can be heard saying, "They didn't make it in time, she couldn't hold on."
The fire truck then arrived on the correct side of the border wall 10 minutes after Poma Perez fell.
Her death is prompting concerns about the protocols followed by Border Patrol in situations where migrants lives are in immediate danger. Newsweek has reached out to the CBP for further comment about how those protocols are determined.
Human-rights groups have blasted the incident, calling it part of a larger policy failure in Washington.
"These deaths are so predictable, they should be classified as state sponsored murders," said Nicole Ramos of Al Otro Lado, a nonprofit that assists migrants at the border. "The US government knows tragedies like this are inevitable, yet it continues construction of the taller, 30ft wall. Migrant death is the expected and desired result. The system as designed is working as intended."
Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the immigrant advocacy nonprofit National Immigration Forum told Newsweek: "Every human life is valuable. Border officials should do whatever they can to save lives. We also need border and asylum policies that prioritize order and security without putting migrants in danger."
Amy Fischer, director of refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International USA, said Poma Perez's death showed that deterrence policies do not work.
"If Ms. Poma Perez had the ability to walk up to seek safety at a port of entry, as required by U.S. law, instead of being forced to wait in danger in Mexico, she may have not tried to climb that wall," Fischer said.
"People will risk their lives in order to save their lives, and this heartbreaking tragedy is one of far too many deaths that occur at the border because of cruel U.S. policies at the border."
Update 7/31/24: 12:00 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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