Arizona Border Deaths Hit 10-Year High After Record Heat

A project that maps where the bodies of border-crossers were recovered from Arizona’s inhospitable deserts, valleys and mountains says it documented 227 deaths in 2020.

That was the highest in a decade following the hottest, driest summer in state history. The previous annual high mapped by the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office and the nonprofit Humane Borders was 224 migrant deaths in 2010. Enforcement efforts in California and Texas over the years have pushed migrants into dangerous terrain in Arizona without easy access to food and water. Some advocates believe border wall construction also has played a role.