(Trends Wide) — More than 830 migrants died at the southern border of the United States in fiscal year 2022, which marks a record that exceeds last year’s total, according to an official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS, for its acronym in English).
Migrants often face treacherous terrain in their attempts to cross the border, including intense desert heat, dangerous waters and falls from the border wall.
“Transnational criminal organizations continue to recklessly endanger the lives of the people they transport for their own financial gain, regardless of the human costs,” said US Customs and Border Protection. its acronym in English) in a statement. “Smuggling organizations are abandoning migrants in remote and dangerous areas, leading to an increase in the number of rescues but also, tragically, an increase in the number of deaths.”
CBP has not yet released final death figures, noting that the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility is still conducting its review as mandated by Congress.
Even so, the figures do not always reflect all the deaths that have occurred per year. Other state and local agencies sometimes recover bodies without Border Patrol involvement, meaning the death toll is likely higher.
An increasing number of migrants continue to arrive at the US-Mexico border as conditions deteriorate in Latin America. U.S. border authorities encountered more than 2 million migrants, some of whom attempted to cross the border more than once, in fiscal year 2022, according to CBP data, marking the highest number of encounters in any recorded fiscal year.
Migrant arrests along the southern US border this year remained high, even during months when numbers typically drop, meaning thousands were exposed to even more difficult situations. In the past, many migrant deaths have been related to heat exposure, the Border Patrol reported.
Immigrant advocates say immigrants may be forced down increasingly risky paths to reach the US, citing a Trump-era pandemic emergency restriction that allows authorities to turn away people in border.
Immigrants from Cuba and Venezuela at the US-Mexico border as they await processing by Border Patrol, on May 22, 2022, in Yuma, Arizona. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
“Migrants, refugees and entire families are using more distant and dangerous routes to come to the United States,” Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, previously told Trends Wide.
In fiscal year 2022, there were more than 22,000 searches and rescues along the southern US border, according to CBP, an increase from 12,833 in fiscal year 2021.
Deaths along the southern border of the United States have been on the rise over the years. In fiscal year 2020, there were 247 deaths and 300 deaths in 2019, marking a record significant increase in 30 years of border crossings. The agency’s data on deaths dates back to 1998.
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(Trends Wide) — More than 830 migrants died at the southern border of the United States in fiscal year 2022, which marks a record that exceeds last year’s total, according to an official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS, for its acronym in English).
Migrants often face treacherous terrain in their attempts to cross the border, including intense desert heat, dangerous waters and falls from the border wall.
“Transnational criminal organizations continue to recklessly endanger the lives of the people they transport for their own financial gain, regardless of the human costs,” said US Customs and Border Protection. its acronym in English) in a statement. “Smuggling organizations are abandoning migrants in remote and dangerous areas, leading to an increase in the number of rescues but also, tragically, an increase in the number of deaths.”
CBP has not yet released final death figures, noting that the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility is still conducting its review as mandated by Congress.
Even so, the figures do not always reflect all the deaths that have occurred per year. Other state and local agencies sometimes recover bodies without Border Patrol involvement, meaning the death toll is likely higher.
An increasing number of migrants continue to arrive at the US-Mexico border as conditions deteriorate in Latin America. U.S. border authorities encountered more than 2 million migrants, some of whom attempted to cross the border more than once, in fiscal year 2022, according to CBP data, marking the highest number of encounters in any recorded fiscal year.
Migrant arrests along the southern US border this year remained high, even during months when numbers typically drop, meaning thousands were exposed to even more difficult situations. In the past, many migrant deaths have been related to heat exposure, the Border Patrol reported.
Immigrant advocates say immigrants may be forced down increasingly risky paths to reach the US, citing a Trump-era pandemic emergency restriction that allows authorities to turn away people in border.
Immigrants from Cuba and Venezuela at the US-Mexico border as they await processing by Border Patrol, on May 22, 2022, in Yuma, Arizona. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
“Migrants, refugees and entire families are using more distant and dangerous routes to come to the United States,” Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, previously told Trends Wide.
In fiscal year 2022, there were more than 22,000 searches and rescues along the southern US border, according to CBP, an increase from 12,833 in fiscal year 2021.
Deaths along the southern border of the United States have been on the rise over the years. In fiscal year 2020, there were 247 deaths and 300 deaths in 2019, marking a record significant increase in 30 years of border crossings. The agency’s data on deaths dates back to 1998.
