Thread: Wet Arizona Winter Leads to More Border Deaths

Feb 13, 4:30 PM EST

Wet Arizona winter leads to more border deaths

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- An unusually wet winter in Arizona this year 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 at the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office. "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 in January 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 inches of rainfall through the first 10 days of February is nearly double the average for those days, 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 soaking-wet body in the late morning on Jan. 26. Zapata left his hometown of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, on Jan. 13 and planned to cross the border near Sasabe illegally, meaning he was likely out in the desert during the rainy days of Jan. 20-23, when nearly 2 inches fell in southern Arizona.

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

This winter, for instance, the cause of death of 32 of the first 57 bodies 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 from Nov. 1-Feb. 12 mark a 58 percent 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 increase in deaths to the buildup 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 No More Deaths, a humanitarian group. "That means they are more likely to get injured or exhausted."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... TE=DEFAULT

So I suppose we should be blamed for having a tough terrain that does not accommodate illegal invaders too well.

Originally Posted by vortex

So I suppose we should be blamed for having a tough terrain that does not accommodate illegal invaders too well.

Not to mention get blamed for the weather.

Why don't they blame the corrupt federal politicians who won't mandate all employers use e-verify nor end the anchor baby scam, that is where the blame lies.

I notice the AZ Star is not allowing comments on this story, probably because it shows 80% of their readers are against illegal immigration and the Star's support of it!

Arizona doesn't kill illegal aliens, illegal aliens kill themselves by attempting to illegally enter the US.

Better blame this on Global Warming.

Dixie

Originally Posted by Dixie

Arizona doesn't kill illegal aliens, illegal aliens kill themselves by attempting to illegally enter the US.

Better blame this on Global Warming.

Dixie

Actually they commit suicide with their attempts.

We will be blamed for not being there to pick them up with a limousine and caviar.

Why doesn't the media or our so-called leaders ever point some of the blame on Mexico? Usually they make it sound like it is our fault for building more border fence and putting more agents on the ground. One of the main responsibilities of our federal government is to protect our borders. I'm sick of people making it sound like it is our fault, what about Mexico???

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-4930--0-0.html

I was wondering why they’re coming at all. With the deep recession that our country is in, jobs are scarce, and any and all available jobs should go to any of the 15 million unemployed Americans.

Then it occurred to me: a fair amount of foreigners from Mexico are still making the dangerous, illegal, trek into the US, because they think there is still a slight chance that Congress will pass an Amnesty this year. They’re also expecting the US economy to improve, and for Obama to finally create jobs for them. Perhaps this is why Obama has been talking a lot lately in his speeches that creating jobs will be more of a priority.

President Obama can do us all a favor, and make one of his classic, frequent, eloquent speeches, announcing that “Immigration Reformâ€

If there is any blame to be placed it is all on the Ahole attempting what is KNOWN to be dangerous. If I were to try to run across the Belt Parkway and was hit by a car doing 65mph would it be said the fault wasn't mine but the designer and builders of the parkway?