In a weekend story, The New York Times examined the growing number of immigrants who are dying while crossing through the Arizona desert. It’s a result, in part, of the Border Patrol’s efforts to stem the tide of crossings through California and Texas.
Pima County, Arizona, has reported the deaths of 177 border crossers this year, the Times says. That’s up from 139 in the same period last year, the paper says, and 157 in 2005 — the previous peak.
The NYT says:
The growing death toll here in recent years follows a Border Patrol clampdown in California and Texas. The goal was to drive migrant traffic away from cities like San Diego and El Paso and into the remote desert on the assumption it would act as a deterrent. But while there is no way of knowing its overall effect, the strategy is serving at least in part as a funnel for untold numbers of migrants.