A Pregnant Teenager Died Trying to Climb US Border Wall

Donald Trump’s border wall will no doubt be an unerasable stain on the already sullied history of American immigration policies. Beyond the fact that it is itself a monument to racism, it’s proven to be dangerous not just ideologically, but also in practice.

According to The Independent, a pregnant 19-year old from Guatemala was attempting to climb the border wall when she fell to her death last week. Miriam Estefany Giron Luna, who was attempting to cross the border into Texas, was 30 weeks pregnant at the time of her fall, which neither she nor the child survived.

Acting commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, Mark Morgan, said on Thursday that Giron Luan’s fall was “an example of the truth” of what’s going on at the border. A truth that, in November of 2019, Jared Kusher suggested we broadcast on the internet via live stream. She fell, apparently, from the top of the wall while trying to make her way down.

The child’s father, Dilver Israel Diaz Garcia, who had already descended, came into contact with US Border Patrol, who called an ambulance to the scene.

Giron Luna’s death is not an isolated incident; the report notes that at least five other Guatemalans have incurred serious injuries while attempting to cross the border. Injuries, like Giron Luna’s death, that could have been avoided were it not for the Trump administration’s erratic and inhumane immigration policies.

According to Tekandi Paniagua, a Guatemalan consular official, Giron Luna and others would have likely turned themselves in to seek asylum via the appropriate networks, but considering the United States’ current immigration policies, those attempting to cross the border feel they have fewer and fewer options left.