Newly released video sheds light on a delayed response to a woman who was stuck on top of the U.S.-Mexico Border wall and ultimately fell to her death in Otay Mesa back in March 2024.
The body-worn camera video released by Customs and Border Protection shows the woman was stuck for at least 24 minutes, calling for help several times before she fell from the top of the 30-foot wall.
She was later identified as 24-year-old Petronila Elizabeth Poma Perez, of Guatemala.
The incident began at around 10:30 p.m. on March 21, about halfway between the Otay Mesa and San Ysidro ports of entry, according to CBP.
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Video shows an agent arriving on the south side of the northern border wall and calling up to the woman in Spanish, asking her to stay there and not come down.
He calls it into his radio at 10:31 p.m. Several minutes pass as he continues to tell her to stay put, as help is on the way.
Someone can be seen approaching from the north side of the wall, where Poma Perez was stuck, to ask about helping her down using a ladder that had been left behind.
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The agent said they couldn't do anything until the fire department arrived. Fourteen minutes after that first radio call, a San Diego Fire Department truck pulls up, but on the wrong side of the wall.
The fire truck couldn’t make the sharp turn through the nearest gate, officials said, and had to take a longer route around.
“While the environment at the border is very challenging, there are thousands of examples over the years where our crews, in concert with CBP agents, have saved lives,” SDFD said in a statement in part. “Our personnel feel horrible when a fatality occurs because our intent is always to rescue, render aid and get those folks who need further medical care to the hospital.”
SDFD said CBP directed the engine to the side of the wall where crews could not reach the woman with a ground ladder and then “performed the lengthy maneuvers” to get to the correct side.
At 10:54 p.m., Poma Perez can be heard calling out again, saying she’s going to fall. She’s then seen immediately falling to the ground. Five minutes later, a border agent arrives on the side where she fell, finding her unresponsive with massive head trauma.
The CBP agents’ body-worn camera video shows confusion circulating among the agents, asking where the fire truck went and noting, “They didn’t make it in time, she couldn’t hold on.”
The video shows the fire truck arriving on the correct side at 11:04 p.m., 10 minutes after Poma Perez fell. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
“It’s such a tragic situation that could have been avoided,” said Pedro Rios, who advocates for migrants as the director of the American Friends Service Committee. “When we were advocating that 30-foot border walls would only bring more suffering and more death, this is exactly what we meant.”
“We should not be normalizing someone falling to their death and us not questioning why that is wrong,” Rios said, adding he believed there should be a full investigation into the delayed response.
CBP said its Office of Professional Responsibility is reviewing the incident. The agency did not respond to multiple specific questions, including why the fire truck was led to the wrong side of the wall.
