One Dead After Dozens Try to Swim Around San Diego Border Fence

U.S.|One Dead After Dozens Try to Swim Around San Diego Border Fence

One pistillate died and 36 radical were detained aft arsenic galore arsenic 70 radical tried to aquatics astir a obstruction that juts into the Pacific Ocean astatine the borderline of the United States and Mexico, the authorities said connected Saturday.

The radical attempted to aquatics from Tijuana into Border Field State Park successful San Diego precocious Friday evening, the Border Patrol’s genitor agency, Customs and Border Protection, said successful a statement.

Border Patrol agents called paramedics aft discovering an unresponsive pistillate who was believed to person been portion of the radical of swimmers. Agents and exigency aesculapian responders provided aid, but the pistillate was declared dormant astir 12:30 a.m., according to the statement.

Agents took 36 Mexican nationals into custody, including 25 men and 11 women. They were brought to a adjacent Border Patrol station.

Some of those detained had been pulled from the ocean. The Coast Guard, which dispatched 2 cutters and a hunt helicopter, took 13 radical from the h2o and handed them implicit to the Border Patrol, said Adam Stanton, a Coast Guard spokesman.

The conception of borderline obstruction that extends astir 300 feet into the Pacific Ocean is 1 of the astir intimately watched parts of the 1,900-mile border. While individuals and tiny groups of swimmers occasionally marque the crossing, wide attempts are rarer.

In the past 12 months, the United States has recorded the astir amerciable borderline crossings since record-keeping began successful 1960. The surge was driven successful portion by the wide economical harm caused by the pandemic. The migrants came from astir the world, but much were from Mexico than from immoderate different country.

Crossings astatine sea, often connected tiny sportfishing boats oregon pleasance craft, have besides increased arsenic sensors and barriers person go much prevalent connected land, and arsenic plummeting tourism has led immoderate vessel operators to crook to smuggling.