Fewer detainees, and fewer deaths?
Border crossings have fallen, but summer still poses danger
Higher temperatures usually means more migrants will attempt the perilous trek across the U.S.-Mexico border. It also means more emergency calls, rescues and even deaths.
This year, however, is less predictable, as the Trump administration has noted a significant decrease in people attempting to illegally cross the border.
Regardless, officials in southern Arizona are getting ready for the hot months ahead and the danger they pose to unauthorized immigrants.
“The numbers have fluctuated for us ... as far as the number of deaths out here,” Border Patrol spokesman Steven Passement said this week. “Right now we’re at a lower number than years past, but our rescues have really gone
More online: Go to azcentral.com to see a border agent discuss the dangers of the desert for migrants who cross illegally from Mexico.
up substantially over the past fiscal year.” Agents, especially the BORSTAR rescue group, are gearing up for a spike in calls, which usually begins around this time, he said.
On Thursday, the agency launched its Border Safety Initiative, a media campaign targeting potential border-crossers and highlighting the heightened risks of attempting to cross in the summer. Last year, the Border Patrol rescued more than 1,400 migrants in the Tucson Sector, which covers Cochise, Santa Cruz and Pima counties. The majority of rescues took place during the warmer months.
But compared with last year, agents in the Tucson Sector and across the Southwestern border have apprehended far fewer people in the first three months of the year. The Trump administration credits the new president’s emphasis on immigration enforcement.
Arrest numbers defy historical patterns
Overall, apprehensions are on a downward trend since hitting historical highs in the early 2000s. The total for 2016 is only a quarter of the 1.6 million migrants detained on the Southwestern border in 2000.
This year, however, the number of arrests has continued to drop significantly, defying migration patterns of the past 15 years. In March, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, reported 12,193 apprehensions along the entire border with Mexico. It was almost three times that amount last year.
In Arizona, that decrease has been equally notable. The Tucson Sector reported 2,150 apprehensions last month, while Yuma reported 336. Both represent a 65 percent decline from a year ago.
The Trump administration pounced on the numbers, taking credit for the shift: “The dramatic drop in illegal southern border apprehensions demonstrates that the President’s commitment to securing our border and supporting law enforcement is already showing results,” a White House statement read.
Passement said it’s difficult to pinpoint the cause of the decrease, and harder to determine if it will continue into summer. “I’d like to attribute it to our current stance: We have more technology, more infrastructure, more agents on the ground,” he said. “We’re patrolling further in areas we weren’t in the past.”
Voicing optimism about the summer
It’s not just the U.S. government that has noticed the recent decrease in activity along the Southwestern border. Consular agencies in southern Arizona have also reported a slowdown.
Carlos de Leon, the consul of Guatemala in Tucson, said his office has seen a 70 to 80 percent drop in the number of Guatemalan families and unaccompanied minors detained at the border in the Tucson and Yuma sectors.
“We can’t say for sure what the factors are, but we’ve seen a decrease,” he said.
Mexican officials were a bit more restrained in their assessment. The vast majority of migrants, as well as rescues and deaths along the desert, come from Mexico.
Enrique Gomez, vice consul in Tucson, pointed to a years-long reversal in migration, which has seen more Mexicans return to Mexico than enter the U.S., as proof the numbers will continue to decline.
But he highlighted dangers still plaguing many migrants trying to brave the desert to reach the U.S.
Since 1998, more than 2,100 Mexican nationals have lost their lives there, he said.
“To this day, that trend has remained, unfortunately,” he said. “For us, just one more (life) is too many.”
Still, there are encouraging signs.
Each week, representatives from three consular agencies meet with the Border Patrol and staff from the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, who examine the bodies and remains of migrants who die while crossing.
In April, so far, there’s only been one new report: skeletal remains found along the border from an individual who was likely deceased for some time.
“The fact that (migrants) are avoiding coming though such a risky method is good for us,” said German Alvarez, El Salvador’s consul in Tucson. “We definitely need to be vigilant so that it stays that way, and they don’t put themselves at risk.”
Impact is unclear, county officials say
Even with the decline in apprehensions, the Office of the Medical Examiner said it’s too early to gauge the impact on the coming months.
Dr. Gregory Hess, a forensic pathologist there, warned that the number of migrant deaths hasn’t changed much for nonsummer months, when they receive between 10 to 15 sets of remains.
“We had 41 deaths reported this year so far, so it’s still an ongoing problem,” he said. “The busiest time for us is in the summer. If we see a slowdown, it would be in the summer.”
In fiscal year 2016, Bor-
der Patrol agents in the Tucson Sector reported 84 migrant deaths in the desert. However, the medical examiner reported finding the remains of 144 migrants in that same time period.
“They just reported deaths when the agents are directly involved with the discovery of the remains, so that’s about half,” Hess explained about the discrepancy in numbers. “The other half are found by whoever: hunters, hikers, humanitarian groups. That’s why their numbers are lower.”
Regardless of what happens in the coming months along the border, the Border Patrol said it’s not leaving things to chance.
Passement said the busiest area for them is the vast and remote area west of Nogales, stretching to the Yuma County line. It encompasses the Tohono O’odham Reservation and several wildlife refuges.
“It’s unfortunate because that area has the least amount of infrastructure, and that’s where we’re seeing casualties,” he said.
“If you’re looking to turn yourself in — if you’re tired, abandoned, lost — there is not very many places to do so, and there’s not very many places to find water, either.”
The Border Patrol has 34 rescue beacons, and many are in that area.
It’s also where many humanitarian groups focus their work delivering water intended for migrants wandering the desert.
All Border Patrol agents are trained in basic emergency care, and the Tucson Sector also has 240 trained emergency medical technicians.
Agent Chris Sullivan, who’s also an EMT, said the areas they patrol can sometimes be challenging for ambulances or emergency vehicles to reach, leaving agents as the main source of care.
“We don’t know what’s gonna happen next month, we don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future,” he said. “We’re still gonna be ready.”