ABC News November 27, 2018

Migrant mom impaled in front of her children falling from border fence

WATCH: Trump defends using tear gas on migrants at US-Mexico border

A migrant mom was impaled in front of her children over the weekend while attempting to climb a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said.

The 26-year-old Guatemalan native was trying to scale a fence near the San Ysidro Port of Entry, a crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, on Friday when she fell and impaled herself on pieces of rebar, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials.

San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents said in a statement they found the woman and her two toddlers around 8:30 p.m. and transported her to a local hospital for treatment. Her injuries weren't life threatening.

Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images
Birds fly over almost empty border crossing lines, after U.S. authorities temporarily closed the San Ysidro port of entry at the US-Mexico border, as seen from Tijuana, Mexico, Nov. 19, 2018.

"The woman landed on rebar that pierced her side and buttocks," according to the statement.

The children, ages 3 and 5, also were taken to a local hospital for an evaluation. They were later released into Border Patrol custody.

(MORE: Government shutdown looms as Trump demands border security money)

"Entering our country illegally, particularly over our walls, is not only dangerous, but also very foolish," San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Rodney Scott said in the statement. "This woman placed her own life and her children's lives in peril."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection
A migrant mom was impaled in front of her children while attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico illegally on Friday, Nov. 22, 2018.

The rebar is part of ongoing work to replace decades-old fencing at the border, according to the statement.

(MORE: Trump defends use of tear gas on migrants attempting to breach US-Mexico border)

The woman told agents she was not part of the migrant caravan that traveled from Central America to the Mexican border city of Tijuana, according to the Associated Press.