Thread: Border deaths on record pace

Check the link for the pic of stats:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... ssers.html

San Diego region sees jump in apprehensions as traffic moves away from Arizona
By Leslie Berestein
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 22, 2006

Tighter enforcement is steering illegal border-crossing traffic away from Arizona and has likely led to fewer deaths, rescues and apprehensions there this year. But borderwide, fatalities are approaching last year's record pace.

Meanwhile, apprehensions are down borderwide, but increasing in California and parts of Texas, with the biggest jump in the San Diego region.






Border deaths (PDF)
According to Border Patrol records, between Oct. 1 and Sunday, 319 people are known to have died along the southern border. A year ago, 326 people died during the same period.
During fiscal year 2005, 472 people are known to have died attempting to cross the border illegally, making it the deadliest year on record. The federal fiscal year is Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

“Overall, they are on par to reach a record number this year,” said Todd Fraser, a Border Patrol spokesman in Washington.

Higher than normal temperatures along some areas of the border have played a part. In the El Paso sector, where apprehensions are up 15 percent, an agency spokesman said a June heat wave was partly responsible for a jump in fatalities. With the exception of the Laredo sector, deaths have been on the rise along the Texas border.

Rescues have increased borderwide, particularly in Texas, but this is partly because of stepped-up efforts to seek out people smuggled in confined spaces, such as train cars or compartments built into vehicles. Those are counted as rescues, Fraser said.

Heat-related deaths are down by nearly half borderwide, as human smuggling traffic decreased in the Tucson sector. Border security in southern Arizona has tightened with more agents and, most recently, the arrival of more than 1,000 National Guard troops.

While the Tucson sector is still the nation's busiest for illegal immigration, apprehensions are down 8 percent; deaths and rescues are down 22 percent and about 40 percent, respectively. Apprehensions and rescues are up slightly in the neighboring Yuma sector, but combined, the two sectors reflect a statewide drop.

“We are hoping that people are getting the word out that it is dangerously hot in this desert,” said Jesus Rodriguez, a Border Patrol spokesman in Tucson.

Temperatures there have been milder this year, he said. Last year, when 186 people had died by this date in southern Arizona, monsoon rains arrived unseasonably late, leading to an especially deadly July. This year, the rains came early, he said.

Bruce Parks, the medical examiner for Pima County, said his caseload has slowed since last summer, when it became necessary to rent a refrigerated truck to store victims.

In San Diego, despite higher than normal temperatures, the number of deaths and rescues are not significantly different from last fiscal year. In El Centro, deaths are down by almost half and rescues have dropped. Yet apprehensions in California continue to increase.

As of Sunday, year-to-date apprehensions in the San Diego sector were 21 percent higher than they were at this time a year ago. With smugglers finding it harder to move their human cargo through Arizona, agency officials say, they go elsewhere.

“These guys aren't stopped,” said Mike Bermudez, a spokesman for the San Diego sector, who noted that most of the local traffic is coming through East County. “They will try any area. They'll try something new, and maybe they'll try something old.”

The San Diego sector was once the nation's busiest for illegal border crossings. In 1994, a federal initiative known as Operation Gatekeeper brought additional fencing, technology and Border Patrol personnel to the area. Border-crossing apprehensions dropped from a high of 565,581 in fiscal year 1992 to 100,681 in 2002.

Since then, apprehensions have crept back up. In early 2004, the Arizona Border Control Initiative was launched, beefing up security in response to a shift in smuggling traffic. That year, San Diego sector apprehensions rose to 138,608; there were 126,913 apprehensions in the sector in fiscal year 2005.

“These numbers always fluctuate,” said San Diego sector spokesman Richard Kite.

Between Oct. 1 and Sunday, there were 117,858 apprehensions in the San Diego sector compared with 97,025 during the same period last year.

Apprehension figures are one indication of illegal immigration, but they are an inexact measure. Authorities say several people slip into the country for each person they apprehend. Also, the number of people arrested is less than the total number of apprehensions, because some crossers are apprehended several times before slipping into the country or giving up.

The Border Patrol's presence has increased to more than 2,400 agents in the Tucson sector, compared with fewer than 900 in the late 1990s. Meanwhile, the number of agents in the San Diego sector has declined from 2,200 in the late 1990s to about 1,600 as of last month, according to the agency.

The latest statistics on border-crossing traffic are no surprise, said Wayne Cornelius, director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California San Diego.

In a survey he conducted of 724 recently returned migrants in the Mexican state of Yucatan last January and February, 83 percent said they had most recently crossed the border through the San Diego-Tijuana area. Ten percent said they had crossed through the Calexico-Mexicali area.

The survey didn't separate out how many had crossed through ports of entry, but it gives a good indication of where smugglers are taking their customers, Cornelius said.

“What is most likely is a combination of perceived risk (in Arizona) with the prompting they are getting from coyotes (smugglers),” he said.

it looks like even nature is against them

Originally Posted by hope2006

it looks like even nature is against them

I used to think that, HOPE but it doesn't look that way to me anymore.
The hazards are well known by all and they CHOSE to make the trek.

I now believe that it's not nature against them, it's their lack of common sense, their lack of respect for the law and other people that is against them. I have also come to the conclusion, after some years of observation and research, that these people are basically cowardly as they chose NOT to stay in their country that they profess to love so much --- and fight for change and improvement.

It's sad, they are a sad group of people and both of these governments are a sad group of greedy, deceitful people.

Remember, I'm an American Indian. I believe that God is sending them a message loud and clear with this. I know many people who have been praying for help in this matter.

Unfortunately, the illegals don't seem to be smart enough to figure it out.

Two words:

STAY HOME!

If you want to come here...come legally.

I think the reason for their deaths is sheer ignorance, They may be used to high temps but 98 degrees is still hot and they are not trained to survive in the desert nor are they all in good shape, the desert is not a forgiving place as many have found out the hard way.
I may not want illegals coming into our country but I certainly do not want to see them die trying.

Originally Posted by MountainDog

I think the reason for their deaths is sheer ignorance, They may be used to high temps but 98 degrees is still hot and they are not trained to survive in the desert nor are they all in good shape, the desert is not a forgiving place as many have found out the hard way.
I may not want illegals coming into our country but I certainly do not want to see them die trying.

Their GOVERNMENT should be taking the BLAME for these deaths!!

NO one, at least most people do not want to see deaths of any kind for any reason. However, what about their Government and FOX encouraging them to take the trek?

How about the STUPID NGO's putting out water making them think that they'll be SAFE?

Oh, how skewed is this? Fox should be put on trial for manslaughter. He knows exactly what happens and he gives them the ok to go forward.

It's by no means Americans' fault. We're the victims here.

I agree with Mountaindog...IMO, a lot of this is ignorance, encouraged by Fox's gov't, because, again IMO, sending their poor to us, is their plan.

So I agree with 2nd, also.

Oh, how skewed is this? Fox should be put on trial for manslaughter. He knows exactly what happens and he gives them the ok to go forward.

Not skewed at all. He just doesn't care and is using his own people.

No one wants to see anyone die. So, STAY HOME!

If you want to come here from anywhere in the world...come legally.

Not skewed for Foxie and bush and gang

but it sure as hell is skewed for normal, intelligent, hard working, thinking Americans. Half assed backwards!

Americans should never be forced into taking blame for that which WE did NOT create.

{not yelling, but pissed beyond belief at this attempt to put US in the hot seat!!! How dare they, those flaming mental midgets}

We only hear of our border agents making the rescues. Think Mexican officials on the other side do rescues?
Mexico should be blasted by the world for letting their people go through this while looking the other way.