llegal border crossers are dying at record rates this month.

Since July 1, the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office has handled the bodies of 38 illegal border crossers, said Dr. Bruce Parks, chief medical examiner. That midmonth total puts July on pace to match or break the single-month record of 68 in July 2005.

"I never thought we would see that again," Parks said. "It's scary. Maybe the rain will slow these down."
Parks said his office has been picking up and examining between one and four bodies of illegal immigrants daily since the beginning of the month. Field agents were on their way to pick up four more bodies Thursday, he said. Most of the people are being found recently deceased.

The deadly month puts 2010 even further ahead of the pace from the past three years. From Jan. 1 to July 15, the office has handled 132 bodies of illegal border crossers, up from 93 at the same time last year and 102 in 2008.

It's been a deadly decade for illegal immigrants trying to cross through Arizona. The bodies of more than 1,750 men, women and children have been discovered since 2001 - about 175 a year.

The Pima County Medical Examiner's Office has handled about 1,600 of them.

The fact that the deaths continue at such high numbers despite widespread indications that fewer people are crossing the border has led many experts to conclude that illegal border crossers face a deadlier trek than ever across Arizona's desert.

Apprehensions in the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector have decreased each of the past five years; remittances to
Mexico have declined and anecdotal reports show the economic recession has slowed illegal immigration. Yet more people are dying than ever.

Border-county law enforcement, Mexican consular officials, Tohono O'odham tribal officials and humanitarian groups say the buildup of border fencing, technology and agents has caused illegal border crossers to walk longer distances in more treacherous terrain, increasing the likelihood that people will get hurt or fatigued and left behind to die.

The Border Patrol disagrees that it's pushing illegal immigrants into more hazardous terrain and points to its rescue efforts as evidence that its presence prevents deaths rather than causes them.

Article by Brady McComb in Arizona Daily Star

A new book by Norma Price, Ted Parks, and Kathryn Ferguson that seeks to document some of the stories of the thousands of people that have attempted to cross this unforgiving terrain.

Information on Arizona Public Media.

Purchase the book at the University of Arizona Press.

Join us in letting Arizona’s leaders know how we feel, and that there will be consequences. A state that dehumanizes its own people does not deserve your economic support. HERE.

Since November, nine have died from hypothermia -- the same number as in the previous three winters combined.

Associated Press
February 14, 2010
Tucson, Ariz.

An unusually wet winter in Arizona has been lethal for illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico into the United States, with nine people dying from hypothermia since November.

The same number of immigrants died of hypothermia during the previous three winters combined.

"When you are wet, your risk is a lot higher," said Dr. Bruce Parks, chief medical examiner in Pima County. "Wet clothing takes the heat away from the body. You've lost that insulation -- your body can't react."

The 2.1 inches of rain that fell in Tucson last month made it the eighth-wettest January in Arizona's recorded history, and the wettest since 1993, according to the National Weather Service.

And the 0.6 inch of rainfall through the first 10 days of this month is nearly double the average for that time period, said Ken Drozd of the National Weather Service.

During one particularly wet week in January, the bodies of three illegal immigrants who died of hypothermia were found.

Among them was Enrique Zapata Senduo, a 47-year-old Mexican who died in a pool of muddy water under a cottonwood tree in the desert southwest of Picacho Peak, about 75 miles southeast of Phoenix.

A rancher discovered his wet body in the late morning on Jan. 26. Zapata left his hometown of Mazatlan on Jan. 13 and planned to cross the border near Sasabe, Ariz., meaning he was probably out in the desert during the rainy days of Jan. 20-23, when nearly 2 inches fell in southern Arizona.

It's possible that other illegal border crossers also have died from the cold this year or in past years, but the cause of death often can't be determined because of the conditions of the bodies.

This winter, for instance, the cause of death of 32 of the first 57 bodies found was undetermined, according to the Arizona Daily Star's border-death database. The database is compiled using information from the Pima and Cochise county medical examiners' offices.

Despite an estimated slowdown in illegal crossings, the number of bodies found continues at the same or higher levels.

The 60 bodies found Nov. 1 through Feb. 12 mark a 58% increase from the same period last year and are more than in any of the previous five years.

Border authorities and humanitarian groups attribute the rise in deaths to the increase of agents and border fences, which cause immigrants to walk longer distances in more-treacherous terrain.

"They are staying up in the mountains longer than they ever have before," said Gene Lefebvre, a member of the humanitarian group No More Deaths. "That means they are more likely to get injured or exhausted."

An Associated Press article from the LA Times.

In the last three years, the 2009 period was the most tragic for illegal immigrants.

LAREDO, TX.- In the last three years, the 2009 period was the most tragic for illegal immigrants. In 12 months 49 lives were lost that intended to cross to the United States.

The Mexican Consulate General of this city confirmed that in 2007, 39 illegal immigrants died and 29 for 2008.
In 2008 16 out of 29 died from a heat stroke, 10 drowned in the Rio Bravo, 1 on the railroad tracks and 2 others in divers accidents. Out of the 29 victims, 21 were identified as mexicans.

It is noteworthy to mention that the Mexican Consulate General along with the Border Patrol had prevention campaigns throughout the year with the intent of reducing the death toll.

Migratory authorities have trained personnel to rescue people and for first aid, they also have special equipped vehicles to rescue those they have found in the fields.

Article from the Laredo Sun.