Laura Mae Williams from the New Mexico Medical Investigator’s Office has been visiting the U.S.-Mexico borderlands multiple times a week in the last two summers due to the increasing number of bodies found in the area. The Medical Investigator’s Office used to recover only a handful of bodies a year in the desert just west of El Paso, but this year they have already recovered 121 sets of remains, a significant increase from five years ago.
The spike in deaths in this relatively small area is attributed to the extreme heat, with temperatures reaching well into the triple digits in the summer. Many migrants who have died in this area are not well-hydrated or well-fed, having spent days in poor conditions in smugglers’ safe houses.
The increase in deaths is largely attributed to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, which has hardened the border in El Paso, pushing smugglers to attempt routes west into New Mexico. Abbott’s press secretary blamed the federal government for the deaths, stating that Operation Lone Star helps deter illegal crossings.
Migrants often begin dying in greater numbers after enforcement efforts push smuggling routes into more remote and dangerous areas. The New Mexico Medical Investigator’s Office also blames smugglers for the deaths, noting that they abandon people who fall behind after taking their phones.
Dr. Heather Jarrell from the Medical Investigator’s Office questions why leaving a person in the middle of the desert to die is not considered homicide by neglect. The deaths in this area fit a historical pattern of increased migrant deaths when smuggling routes become more remote and dangerous.
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