Latest reports show that ten times as many migrants died in New Mexico near the US-Mexico border in each of the last two years compared with just five years ago.
During the first eight months of 2024, the bodies of 108 presumed migrants, mostly from Mexico and Central America, were found near the border in New Mexico, according to the most recent data. Many of the bodies were discovered less than 10 miles (16km) from El Paso.
In 2023, the remains of 113 presumed migrants were found near the state’s border with Mexico. In 2020, nine bodies of were found. In 2019, there were 10. It is not clear exactly why so many more people are succumbing in that area, but many experts say smugglers are treating migrants more harshly and bringing them on paths that could be more dangerous in extreme summer temperatures.
The influx has taxed the University of New Mexico’s medical investigator office, which identifies the dead and conducts autopsies. Almost all of the deaths show the cause is heat-related, the office said.
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“Our reaction was sadness, horror and surprise because it had been very consistently low for as long as anyone can remember,” said Heather Edgar, a forensic anthropologist with the office.
Serving the entire state, the office over two years has added deputy medical investigators to handle the extra deaths on top of the usual 2,500 forensic cases.
“We’d always had three deputies down in that area, and I think we have nine or 10 now,” Edgar said of New Mexico’s eastern migration corridor.
Immigration and border security are among voters’ top concerns heading into the 5 November presidential election, but the candidates have focused on keeping migrants out of the US and deporting those already here.
But the rising deaths pose a severe humanitarian concern. “People are dying close to urban areas, in some cases just 1,000ft from roads,” noted Adam Isacson, an analyst for the non-governmental Washington Office on Latin America. He said water stations, improved telecommunications and more rescue efforts could help.
Officials say they are targeting human-smuggling networks. US Customs and Border Protection added a surveillance blimp to monitor the migration corridor near its office in Santa Teresa, in New Mexico’s Doña Ana county. And it relies on movable 33ft (10-meter) radar towers to scan the area. US officials in recent years have added 30 more push-button beacons that summon emergency medical workers along remote stretches of the border at New Mexico and western Texas. And they have set up more than 500 placards with location coordinates and instructions to call 911 for help.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
