Three people died last week as they attempted to cross the US-Mexico border near San Diego, California, amid a storm that brought near freezing temperatures to the challenging mountain terrain, according to the US border patrol.
Border patrol agents responding to two separate distress calls – that came within less than an hour of each other on 14 March – discovered two men and one woman deceased in the Otay Mountain wilderness area, the agency said in a statement. The following evening authorities responded to another call from someone stranded in the mountains with a broken ankle, according to the statement.
The number of illegal crossings at the southern border of the US fell last month to the lowest figures recorded since 2000, as Donald Trump pledged to dramatically reshape immigration in the country with mass deportations. At the same time crackdowns within the US quickly increased – officials arrested more immigrants in February than in any month in the last seven years.
Research has found that Trump’s immigration policies have led to increasingly dangerous conditions for immigrants. The US president’s “impenetrable” border wall, which he made a key pledge of his first term, resulted in increased immigrant deaths and devastating injuries from falling, according to a 2022 study.
In the Otay Mountain wilderness, where three people died last week, the terrain is “harsh” and conditions are “extreme”, the US border patrol said in a statement. People who attempt to cross the border in the area “often face the risk of dehydration, starvation, heat stroke, and hypothermia”.
On the evening of 14 March, as a storm brought rain and cold weather to the area, agents responded to a call for help near a trail where they found two women, one of whom had died. Agents were dispatched to another call that night from a group of people experiencing symptoms of hypothermia and difficulty breathing, and found a 16-year-old girl. Two men who had been traveling with her, including her father, were deceased.
In the statement from US border patrol, Jeffrey D Stalnaker, the acting chief patrol agent of the San Diego sector, warned people against crossing the US border illegally.
“The Otay Mountain wilderness is unpredictable and unforgiving. Extreme conditions and harsh terrain can lead to injuries and death to you or your loved ones, so don’t break the law; and avoid the risk.”
