A man attempting to cross into the United States illegally Sunday evening by climbing over a 30-foot wall on the U.S.-Mexico border near Calexico, California, fell and broke both of his legs.
@CBPElCentro Man injured himself while making an illegal entry #ImperialValley. #BorderPatrol reminds the public of the involved dangers while crossing illegally. https://t.co/DuT4FJSjUs https://t.co/msZ03oVLuw pic.twitter.com/Oc8rKhs1bq
— CBP El Centro (@CBPElCentro) August 7, 2018
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Monday that the man, who has not been identified by CBP officials, fractured both his legs and may have injured his back by attempting to climb over the wall in downtown Calexico, which is east of San Diego.
CBP surveillance video shows a grainy white figure falling on the other side of the border wall, where he lay motionless upon impact. Paramedics airlifted the man to a hospital in Palm Springs, California.
Border Patrol spokesman Carlos Pitones said in a statement that the U.S. government typically covers the medical expenses for people injured while crossing the U.S. border illegally, and officials deport the illegal border-crossers when they have recovered from their injuries.
The state of California, meanwhile, is looking to shoulder the cost of caring for the injured border-crossers with taxpayer money. Assembly Democrats in California’s state legislature proposed a bill this year requesting $250 million from Gov. Jerry Brown to expand the state’s low-income healthcare program, Medi-Cal, to illegal aliens.
Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), who chairs the assembly’s budget committee, claims the money to expand Medi-Cal would be taken from the state’s $6.1 billion budget surplus.
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