A record of at least 853 migrants died trying to illegally cross into the U.S. in the past year, according to CBS News.
The deaths occurred amid record migrant encounters at the southern border, with around 2.3 million in fiscal year 2022.
In fiscal year 2021, there were 546 migrant deaths, CBS reported, citing internal Border Patrol data.
In April, a government watchdog reported that Border Patrol didn’t gather and record “complete data on migrant deaths.”
“Smuggling organizations are abandoning migrants in remote and dangerous areas, leading to a rise in the number of rescues but also tragically a rise in the number of deaths,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda told CBS. “The terrain along the border is extreme, the summer heat is severe, and the miles of desert migrants must hike after crossing the border in many areas are unforgiving.”
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The problem has become so dire that morgues in towns along the border have run out of space.
“It’s gotten to the point where the state has to provide a refrigerator trailer where we’re having to take the deceased to and they’re there for maybe between about 24-72 hours where we try to get an identification on the person and at that point another sad thing that’s happening is our justices of the peace, they’re ordering autopsies on these unfortunate persons and the medical examiners that we use in Webb County…they’re starting to kind of turn us away because of the high volume of the deceased that they’re having,” Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber told the Daily Caller in September.
CBP attributes the issue to transnational criminal organizations who “continue to recklessly endanger the lives of individuals they smuggle for their own financial gain with no regard for human life,” the agency told the DCNF.
“Smuggling organizations are abandoning migrants in remote and dangerous areas, leading to a rise in the number of rescues but also tragically a rise in the number of deaths. The terrain along the border is extreme, the summer heat is severe, and the miles of desert migrants must hike after crossing the border in many areas are unforgiving. Despite these inherent dangers, smugglers continue to lie to migrants claiming the borders are open. The borders are not open, and people should not attempt to make the dangerous journey,” CBP added.
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