Border Deaths Up Despite Apparent Dip in Crossings

by Arthur H. Rotstein, AP
April 8, 2009

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Illegal immigrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border have risen in the past six months despite a nearly 25 percent drop in arrests by the Border Patrol, according to patrol statistics.

The number of migrant deaths along the roughly 2,000-mile border increased by nearly 7 percent between Oct. 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, though apprehensions of people crossing illegally from Mexico into Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California decreased in the same period from a year ago, the patrol said.

Migrant rights groups said the number of deaths directly correlated to increased enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border. [...]

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