Forensic anthropologist Heather Edgar with the Office of the Medical Investigator poses for a portrait outside her office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oct. 3, 2024. She said the Office’s reaction to the rise of migrant…
Forensic anthropologist Heather Edgar with the Office of the Medical Investigator poses for a portrait outside her office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oct. 3, 2024. She said the Office’s reaction to the rise of migrant deaths was sadness, horror and surprise.
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Susan Montoya Bryan/AP
As immigration and border security loom large in voters’ minds ahead of the November 5 presidential election, candidates have focused primarily on preventing migrant entry and deporting those already in the U.S.
However, the increase in deaths has raised urgent humanitarian concerns since smugglers began leading migrants through gaps in the fencing at Sunland Park and over low barriers near the Santa Teresa Port of Entry.
Adam Isacson, an analyst for the Washington Office on Latin America, said: “People are dying close to urban areas, in some cases just 1,000 feet from roads.”
He has called for more water stations, improved telecommunications, and enhanced rescue efforts.
In response to the surge, New Mexico officials are ramping up their crackdown on human smuggling networks, recently arresting 16 individuals and rescuing 91 trafficked people.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has also deployed a surveillance blimp to monitor the migration corridor and set up movable radar towers for better detection.
Officials have introduced 30 new push-button beacons along remote border stretches in New Mexico and Texas to summon emergency medical help, in addition to installing over 500 placards with location coordinates directing migrants to call 911.
This summer, Border Patrol, responsible for securing nearly 6,000 miles of land borders, expanded its search and rescue operations, dispatching more patrols equipped with medical specialists. They have relocated beacons closer to areas where migrants are frequently found in distress.
Border Patrol reported nearly 1,000 rescues of migrants in New Mexico and Texas over the past year, a sharp increase from about 600 rescues the previous year.
Even while overall migration declines following the Biden administration’s major asylum restrictions, the number of deaths in New Mexico now rivals those in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, where 114 presumed border crossers were found dead during the same period this year, according to a mapping project by the nonprofit Humane Borders.
This article contains additional reporting from The Associated Press
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Publish date : 2024-11-01 07:48:00
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