Mexican Man Jumps off Bridge After Being Deported from US

Guadalupe Olivas Valencia, a 45-year-old Mexican citizen was deported back to Mexico from the U.S. on Tuesday. Less than an hour later, he was found dead after jumping off a bridge, authorities have said.

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Police in Tijuana responded to a call of a man preparing to launch himself off a bridge only meters away from the U.S.-Mexico border. They arrived to find Olivas with critical head injuries from the fall, his plastic bag stuffed full of his possessions and documentation showing that he had been deported back to Mexico less than an hour before.

He was rushed to the Tijuana General Hospital, but soon after was pronounced dead.

Originally from Sinaloa, the northwestern state which has been plagued by widespread violence, Olivas attempted to enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro crossing but was detained by U.S. immigration officials on Monday. 

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Olivas was “repatriated” back to Mexico on Tuesday because he did not present any legal documents to enter the U.S. While it has not yet been confirmed, Mexican officials are investigating Valencia’s death as a suicide.

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Olivas was described by his family as a widowed father who was trying to support his three children. According to the Department of Homeland Security, he been deported from the U.S. on at least six occasions and had served time in U.S. prisons for a number of drug possession and immigration charges.

Unfortunately, Olivas ’ story is not an outlier for desperate migrants, many of whom are separated from their families and suffer a high risk of suicide. There are an estimated 11 million undocumented people that live in the U.S. and fear deportation under sweeping immigration crackdowns introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump.