Border Crossing Deaths Rise as Illegal Entries Fall Carolina Moreno - Huffington Post
go to original August 17, 2012

The number of people attempting to illegally cross the U.S-Mexico border has plummeted, but the number of migrants dying during the trek through the mostly desert region has not.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection continues its efforts to secure the border and prevent deaths in the area, Border Patrol officials said. But, while the number of border crossings has declined dramatically in the last five years, the number of deaths has not decreased at the same pace. Human rights organizations attribute the problem to the increased militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border and the absence of government policy addressing the social and economic motivations that prompt migrants to continue to cross, despite the dangers.

"We never thought that we'd be in the business of helping to identify remains like in a war zone, and here we are," said Isabel Garcia, co-chair and founder of the Tucson-based Coalicion de Derechos Humanos.



While the precise number of individuals crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization is impossible to tally, Border Patrol’s apprehensions and death data offer the most accurate picture available. Each year the CBP reports the number of bodies found along the Southwest border and the number of migrants that agents bring into custody.

In Fiscal Year 2011, 327,577 migrants attempted to cross the border illegally, down from 858,638 in FY 2007 -- a nearly 62 percent drop. A closer look at the numbers reveals that although illegal border traffic has slowed and deaths have slightly declined, the proportion of people dying in an attempt to cross has continued to rise.

In FY 2011, Border Patrol found 368 people dead, compared to 398 in FY 2007. The number of deaths to live interceptions rose to 0.11 percent in FY 2011 compared to 0.05 percent in FY 2007. While the numbers may seem small, they indicate that illegal border crossings have become less common, but more dangerous.

In May, the Pew Hispanic Center found that migration from Mexico to the United States had reached a "standstill" that began in 2005, a first since the wave of immigration to the north began in the 1970s.

During the same period, U.S. Border Patrol increased the number of agents and technology used to monitor the border.

"U.S. Customs and Border Protection has more than doubled the size of the Border Patrol since 2004," Kerry Rogers, a spokeswoman for the Border Patrol, said in an e-mail to The Huffington Post. "Taken as a whole, the additional manpower, technology and resources provided in the last six years represent the most serious and sustained action to secure our border in our nation's history. And it is clear from every key measure that this approach is working."

Increased border monitoring and the historic number of undocumented immigrants deported from the United States has caused migrants to take riskier routes across the border, said Garcia, of the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos. Some are desperate to return.

Read more at The Huffington Post

carolina.moreno@huffingtonpost.com

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