Key facts
- 19 migrant bodies were recovered along the Arizona-Mexico border last month.
- This is the highest monthly death toll in the region since 2024.
- 73 migrant remains have been found this year, 14 more than last year.
- Dehydration and exposure are the most common causes of death.
- Experts estimate the actual death toll could be four times higher than discovered remains.
The number of migrant deaths along the Arizona-Mexico border has seen a significant increase, with 19 bodies recovered last month, marking the highest monthly toll since 2024. This brings the total remains found this year to 73, exceeding last year's figures by 14. Experts and immigration advocates attribute this rise to restrictive US immigration policies, both domestically and internationally, which they argue make legal entry and asylum processes exceedingly difficult, thereby forcing individuals to undertake perilous journeys through harsh environments like the Arizona desert.
Octavio Torres, executive director of the non-profit Humane Borders, stated that policies aimed at 'closing the border' have effectively blocked legal ports of entry, making it nearly impossible for people to enter the country legally. Despite extreme temperatures and the threat of arrest, individuals continue to attempt these dangerous crossings. Humane Borders, which assists migrants and collaborates with Pima County to track deaths, reports that at least 4,505 migrants have died in the Arizona desert over the past 25 years, averaging about one death every other day. The primary causes of death are dehydration and exposure, though hypothermia and head trauma from falls also contribute.
Brad Jones, a Humane Borders board member and professor at the University of California, Davis, noted that the recent data indicates a high number of 'contemporaneous' deaths, suggesting recent fatalities rather than the discovery of older remains. He explained that the desert environment can quickly obscure or destroy evidence, and remains can disappear due to scavengers, meaning the actual death toll is likely much higher. Jones estimates that the true number of migrant deaths could be as high as four times the number of discovered remains.
Amelia Frank-Vitale, an anthropology professor at Princeton University, researches the factors compelling people to risk their lives migrating to the US. She highlights that many individuals feel they have no other choice, even when facing severe US immigration enforcement actions. Frank-Vitale argues that the US has not adequately addressed its role in creating instability in the countries from which migrants originate. Even before the Trump administration's significant curtailment of the asylum process, only a small fraction of Central Americans and others were granted asylum.
Torres echoed this frustration, criticizing US policies that create chaos and then neglect the affected populations. He referenced 'Operation Gatekeeper' in 1994 as the start of a 'prevention through deterrence' strategy that made safer crossing points difficult, driving people into the Arizona desert. The Trump administration's policies, including repurposing the CBP One app to encourage 'self-deportation' and reviving 'Remain in Mexico' protocols, have further complicated legal entry. While border 'encounters' have decreased under the Biden administration, experts contend that the journey has simply become more dangerous and lethal.