PHOENIX — The extreme heat wave is proving to be no deterrent for migrants coming to the United States, causing a rise in deaths and in the number of people who’ve had to be rescued by federal agents near the border.
More than 100 people have died trying to make the treacherous journey across the Southwest, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. Of those, 13 migrants died last week.
In Arizona, the bodies of 53 people have been recovered across the desert since the start of the year.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Aumentan los rescates y muertes de migrantes por calor extremo
“I think it’s heartbreaking,” said Gail Kocourek, with Tucson Samaritans, a volunteer-based group that provides humanitarian aid to migrants along the border.
She said a woman died trying to cross the border over the weekend. They were notified about the death of a group of migrants they encountered.
“The first thing they wanted to tell us, was that this man had walked up to them and said that his sister had died the night before along the wall and he was distraught,” Kocourek said. “He was looking for help.”
While en route to find the body, the volunteers encountered a Border Patrol agent who was also searching for the deceased migrant.
“He had a K-9 with him and found the body,” said Kocourek. “Somebody put a blanket over her, which I thought was considerate.”
Border crossing
Border Patrol agents have performed 24,056 rescues along the Southwest border so far this fiscal year, which runs from October to September, according to the agency’s data.
It’s a record-breaking number that has doubled almost every year since 2020.
Over 5,300 rescues have been heat-related, said U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens on Twitter.
On June 30, Nogales Station agents encountered an unresponsive woman while tracking a group of suspected migrants near Peña Blanca Lake, the division chief tweeted. The 22-year-old was carried to an air ambulance by agents and EMTs, “saving her life.”
Three days earlier, four migrants were rescued south of Benson after calling 911 and reporting they were suffering from heat-related illnesses.
Last month two other people called 911 and stated they were in the desert and had run out of water. BORNSTAR agents responded and provided “life-saving medical care,” Acting chief patrol agent Dustin Caudle tweeted.
“The people that come from central America, and other parts, they don’t know this kind of heat,” Kocourek said. “They live with humidity; they don’t know the dry heat that sucks the life out of you.”
The deadliest years for migrants crossing the border in Arizona were 2010 and 2021, with 225 and 224 deaths, according to data collected by the advocacy group Humane Borders in partnership with the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office.
As the sweltering record-breaking heat scorches the nation, there is no end in sight for border agents and volunteers.
“People aren’t taking it seriously,” Kocourek said about the heat wave.
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