Dozens of children and hundreds of young women are among thousands of migrants who have died in desperate attempts to enter the US, according to official figures that lay bare the scale of the southern border crisis.
Analysis by Newsweek of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows that the rate at which women die on the border has surged and that at least 19 children under the age of 10 have died since 2016.
The figures, obtained by campaign group No More Deaths and shared with Newsweek, also reveal that on one stretch of the Del Rio Sector in Texas, 257 deaths were recorded in 2022 alone.
Lawmakers and human rights groups have called for action in the wake of Newsweek’s findings, describing the death toll as “staggering”.
Senator Ted Cruz warned that people smugglers value migrants less than “cattle” and that U.S. farmers are often left picking up the pieces.
“I’ll sit down with farmers and ranchers, and they will pull out photograph after photograph of just dead bodies they find on their property.
“You see elderly people, you see pregnant women. You see toddlers and infants. And these cartels, these traffickers, that they don’t view the people coming in as human beings. They don’t even view them as cattle,” he said in an interview.
The CBP told Newsweek that it takes migrant safety seriously but that the border is a dangerous place.
The agency splits its work across various sectors along the border, with data showing desert-dominated El Paso – covering much of New Mexico and part of Texas – becoming one of the most-deadly in recent years.
“People are usually a mile from a road or 100 feet from a road or just very close to a road and within cell phone reception,” Bryce Peterson, from No More Deaths, told Newsweek, explaining that many El Paso deaths are happening in and around the city itself.
“I think over the course of the last 20 years, we’ve been desensitized to hearing about migrants dying in the middle of the desert and I think [this is about] understanding that people are now dying in your literal backyard.”
With promises of tougher border security from President-elect Donald Trump and his immigration allies, part of the challenge will be ensuring the border is secure enough that immigrants are unable to cross between official ports of entry, into perilous desert, mountains or rivers.
The FIOA data, which is presented as Fiscal Years, run from the previous October 1 through September 30 – i.e. FY 2023 ran October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023. Data for 2024 is up until September this year.
El Paso becomes deadliest sector
In 2022, Del Rio Sector in Texas, covering some 53,063 square miles, was the most deadly, with 257 deaths recorded.
Over the past two years, numbers have fallen as El Paso, covering 125,500 square miles, saw its share of incidents rise – going from 72 in 2022 to 168 in 2024.
Big Bend, El Centro and Yuma sectors all consistently see far fewer deaths recorded, while Tucson and Rio Grande have seen ever-changing concentrations of migrant deaths.
“We’ve seen investigator reports and autopsy reports, where the medical examiner states that a person had gone over to seek asylum and was deported and then tried again and then died on the second try,” Peterson explained.
“Especially in El Paso, Texas, people are crossing the border wall just to get apprehended by Border Patrol in order to get asylum and then they’ll fall off the border wall, they’ll drown in the canal or die in some other way while in the process of actively seeking asylum.”
More women dying along the border
Over 500 women have lost their lives there since 2021, highlighting the particular risks that women face in the hazardous journey northward.
“I believe it is the deadliest place in the country right now,” James Holeman, of Battalion Search and Rescue, told Newsweek. “Over 200 died in the last year, all in a small 10 by 20 mile area.
“105 women have died in this area west of El Paso in less than 2 years. Girls as young as 16. The average age of the women is 29.”
In many instances, the sex could not be determined, or was simply not recorded, as many of those found were already skeletal remains.
Children as young as 1 found dead
The CBP data showed that the majority of those dying along the border were adults age between 21 and 45, but the graph above shows the vast spectrum of ages of those perishing.
Many teenagers and young adults were among those recorded by Border Patrol officers, along with several under the age of 10.
As the number of women dying has increased in the past four years, so has the number of children.
Mexicans make up majority of deaths
While Mexicans do make up the majority of those dying along the border, reflecting the larger numbers of border-crossers generally, some of those recorded came from all across the world.
Over the years. migrants from as far as Bangladesh, Russia, and Syria have made the attempt to reach the U.S., only to die in the land around the border.
Missing reports of Border Wall falls
The data gives one of the most comprehensive looks at deaths along the border ever, with records showing a surge in immigrants losing their lives as crossings rose after 2020.
The most prevalent causes of death continue to be heat exposure and water, or drowning, with Peterson telling Newsweek that the water in and around El Paso has proven ever-deadly.
“In El Paso City, the canals kill a lot of people and the water authority there, they’re aware of the problem,” he said. “Over 100 people have died in the last 10 years in the canals, pretty much all migrants.
“While they’re revitalizing their whole infrastructure, while they’re doing that, they could very easily put little bridges, they could put ladders, they could put a lot of different infrastructure that would prevent many of those deaths.”
CBP data showed some migrant deaths were due to falling from the border wall, although data was only available for the past three years. There were 7 in FY 2024, 15 in 2023, and 8 in 2022.
No More Deaths and Battalion Search and Rescue believe the number is likely higher, as the group’s volunteers have recorded more in its work.
“Anything CBP is telling you, you can pretty much guarantee it’s a minimum 2-, 3-, 4-times higher than that,” Peterson added.
CBP told Newsweek that when migrants cross the border illegally, they put their lives in peril.
“The terrain along the border is extreme and the miles of desert migrants must hike after crossing the border in many areas are unforgiving,” a spokesperson said.
“Smugglers continue to lie to migrants, claiming the borders are open. The borders are not open to irregular migration, and people should not attempt to make the dangerous journey.”
Why are deaths going unreported?
CBP has allegedly failed to record numerous cases, particularly where Border Patrol personnel were directly involved.
These omitted cases include fatalities occurring during apprehensions and in CBP custody, raising serious questions about transparency in migrant death reporting, according to the FOIA obtained by No More Deaths.
“People can and do disappear in CBP custody. CBP refuses to adopt the death reporting practices expressly mandated by Congress,” Andrew Fels, staff attorney for Al Otro Lado, another group working along the border, told Newsweek.
“Every new dataset reveals previously unreported deaths. These new FOIA records are one of the most comprehensive lists of CBP-related deaths to date. Yet even they are incomplete.”
No More Deaths believes that some missing data is down to border security policies which force migrants to make dangerous crossings into areas where they can easily get lost, meaning their remains are never found and do not need to be recorded.
That has not stopped volunteers from heading out into remote stretches along the border to collect these remains, and belongings, in an effort to reunite them with family members.
Holeman believes that agencies all along the border, including local law enforcement, are pushing back on doing more for migrants, in part, because of groups like Battalion.
“Severe under counting, resistance and resentment towards humanitarian groups like ours,” he said.
“These agencies are not working together. The Office of the Medical Examiner cannot go recover unless they are triggered by the sheriff’s department. The sheriff’s department is questioning our work and is hostile towards us, so they are not going. Border patrol is famous for under counting these deaths.”
Peterson hopes that CBP’s data will lead to lawmakers addressing “very fixable things” which can bring about greater transparency, as well as help for those crossing, including ensuring cell phone service is available all along the border so migrants can call for help.
The incoming administration has promised to get tough on border security, including continuing to build the border wall which was only partially completed during Donald Trump’s previous administration.
His border czar Tom Homan has promised to bring back the Remain in Mexico policy for those arriving at the border, but increasing staffing capabilities will likely be necessary to crack down on those crossing between ports of entry.
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