Migrant deaths along the Mexico–United States border

Migrant deaths along the Mexico–U.S. border occur hundreds of times a year because of those attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico illegally. The number of deaths reported in US Federal fiscal year 2015 (ending 30 Sept) was 240, which was the lowest number in at least 18 years, and less than half the 492 deaths reported in 2005. Exposure (including heat stroke, dehydration, and hyperthermia) were the leading cause.

Pro human rights groups maintain that since 1994, more than 11,000 people have died from dehydration in their attempt to cross the increasingly militarized border. According to the United States Border Patrol, 1,954 people died crossing the U.S–Mexico border between the years 1998–2004. In the fiscal year ending September 29, 2004, 460 migrants died crossing the U.S.–Mexico border. In 2005, more than 500 died across the entire U.S.–Mexico border. The number of yearly border crossing deaths has doubled since 1995. In 2009, 417 deaths were reported across the border. Yet the statistics cited by scholars and the media are only the number of known deaths and do not include those who have never been found, underestimating the actual number of migrants that have died attempting unauthorized border crossings.

Mexico's Secretariat of Foreign Affairs has compiled data including deaths on the Mexican side of the border area during the period from 1994 to 2000. The data shows 87 deaths in 1996, 149 in 1997, 329 in 1998, 358 in 1999, and 499 in 2000.

The Arizona Daily Star maintained a database of border deaths recorded by the Pima, Santa Cruz, Cochise, and Yuma County medical examiners between summer 2004 and September 2006. They stated, "With no official record-keeping system, the exact number of illegal entrants who have died along the Arizona stretch of U.S.-Mexican border has never been known".

The number of dead border crossing migrants per year in Arizona increased from nine in 1990 to 201 in 2005; about 80% of the dead migrants were under 40 during 2000–2005, with an increasing number younger than 18.

A study by the Center for Immigration Research at the University of Houston found that, "In the late 1980s, the number of foreign transient deaths usually exceeded 300, and peaked in 1988 at 355. Thereafter, the number of deaths fell to 180 in 1993 and 1994. After 1994 the number of deaths started to increase again, peaking in 2000 at 370. Border Patrol counts for 2001 and 2002 show a small decrease in the number of deaths in those years compared to 2000."

...
Wikipedia