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Border Deaths Spike 27 Percent, Even As Immigration From Mexico Drops, Report Says

Disturbing Border Death Statistics Revealed
Roque Planas
By 

National Reporter, HuffPost

In this Aug. 10, 2012 photo, Caitlin Vogelsberg, a forensic anthropology intern, returns the remains of a John Doe, an unnamed suspected illegal immigrant, in a small body bag after photographing the skull for their records at the Pima County morgue in Tucson, Ariz. Many times when illegal immigrant bodies are found in the Arizona desert there is very little left of the person, requiring a much smaller body bag to contain the remains in the morgue. The death of migrants crossing the Southwest border has long been a tragic consequence of illegal immigration and, many say, the massive increase in U.S. border enforcement. For some, the tragedies are a powerful motivator in pushing Congress to act this year on a larger immigration reform package. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
In this Aug. 10, 2012 photo, Caitlin Vogelsberg, a forensic anthropology intern, returns the remains of a John Doe, an unnamed suspected illegal immigrant, in a small body bag after photographing the skull for their records at the Pima County morgue in Tucson, Ariz. Many times when illegal immigrant bodies are found in the Arizona desert there is very little left of the person, requiring a much smaller body bag to contain the remains in the morgue. The death of migrants crossing the Southwest border has long been a tragic consequence of illegal immigration and, many say, the massive increase in U.S. border enforcement. For some, the tragedies are a powerful motivator in pushing Congress to act this year on a larger immigration reform package. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border spiked 27 percent last year, according to a report released Tuesday that calls for the implementation of a guest worker program to stem the number of deaths.

In 2012, 477 migrants lost their lives attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border -- up from 375 the year before, according to the report by the National Foundation for American Policy titled “How Many More Deaths? The Moral Case for a Temporary Worker Program.” That figure is the highest since 2005, when 492 migrants died.

“If Congress adopted reforms to allow the legal entry of foreign workers in sufficient numbers, the tragedy of immigrant deaths at the border would largely disappear and illegal entry to the United States would be reduced,” the report’s author Stuart Anderson said in a statement.

The report, which bases its figures for the number of deaths on data from the U.S. Border Patrol, comes as the U.S. Congress is grappling with the contentious issue of immigration reform. With Republican opposition fading away, a comprehensive bill appears to have a chance of passing this year.

The increase is all the more disturbing because the jump in deaths has occurred as net immigration from Mexico has dropped to net zero or less, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Tuesday’s report estimates that an immigrant crossing the border illegally is eight times more likely to die today than 10 years ago.

Some 5,595 immigrants have died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border since 1998.

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Roque Planas - National Reporter, HuffPost

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