Border patrol rescues Mexican migrant found hanging from border wall in California

Border officials rescued a Mexican national who was stranded on the border wall in California as he attempted to enter the United States illegally, authorities said on Wednesday.

Officers patrolling Imperial Beach found the 25-year-old hanging from part of the wall jutting out into the Pacific Ocean around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement.

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The migrant attempted to lower the US side of the barrier and found himself stranded above the waterline, the agency said. Mexican authorities dislodged the man, while CPB agents took him to safety.

He was taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia and knee pain, authorities said.

Although the agency did not immediately say whether the man was abandoned by a human smuggler, it warned of the dangers these traffickers posed.

“Let this serve as a serious reminder to you,” Chief Patrol Officer Aaron Heitke said in a statement. “The only motive of a smuggler is profit. When the going gets tough, they’ll leave you hanging, literally and figuratively. Our agents will always save lives as much as possible.”

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The Trump administration announced earlier this month that 70,000 migrants were apprehended at the southwest border in November, a 64% increase from 2019.

Acting CBP commissioner Mark Morgan told reporters at the time that the increase, which resulted in an average of 2,300 meetings per day in November, was mostly made up of single adult men from Mexico.

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Morgan added that there had been a growing number of families and unaccompanied children (UAC) from Northern Triangle countries in recent months.

Fox News’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.