U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a statement regarding the death of a man who climbed, and then fell from, the International Border Barrier.
January 15, 2023, at approximately 10:52 p.m., Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Paso Station responded to a sensor activation approximately four miles east of The Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry. The first agent arrived in a fully marked United States Border Patrol transport van via the Loop 375 Border Highway and walked to a chain link fence on the elevated levy road. From this position, the agent, using a flashlight, observed a man in the All-American Canal located between the chain link fence and the International Border Barrier. In this area the border barrier is located approximately 45 yards north of the Rio Grande River. Additional agents began to arrive on the north side of the chain link fence along the levy road. After observing the agents’ flashlights, the man ran south across the All-American Canal and climbed the barrier. Agents ordered the man to stop and did not pursue him, as the chain link fence separated them with no access gate nearby.
The man reached the top of the barrier and then proceeded to climb down the south side of the barrier. The agents subsequently observed the man fall onto the concrete trench, landing on the south side of the barrier. A Border Patrol agent emergency medical technician responded to the south side of the barrier at approximately 10:53 p.m. to provide medical aid. An additional Border Patrol agent paramedic also arrived to provide additional medical care. The EMT and paramedic conducted a trauma assessment of the man and requested advanced emergency medical services via radio. The EMT and paramedic stabilized the man with a back board and prepared him for transport. El Paso Fire Rescue medical personnel arrived at the south side of the barrier at approximately 11:30 p.m. and transported the man to University Medical Center, located in El Paso, Texas. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, medical staff intubated the man and placed him on blood pressure support and a ventilator for life support.
The man, identified as a citizen of Honduras, was processed in accordance with CBP guidelines and released from CBP custody on January 19; he remained at the medical center in critical condition. The man succumbed to his injuries and was declared deceased by University Medical Center personnel on January 21 at approximately 5:25 p.m.
CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) special agents responded to University Medical center, collected radio recordings of the response, and regularly monitored the man’s medical condition during his care at the medical center. No video was identified of the incident.
This incident is under review by CBP’s OPR. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General was also notified.
