Border officials are launching a mitigation effort to reduce heat-related injuries and deaths of migrants crossing the desert.
Customs and Border Protection’s Tucson Sector will be the first Border Patrol sector to try out a new heat stress kit for a 90-day trial period to determine whether the effort will be expanded to all sectors across the U.S.-Mexico border.
The rollout will begin with 500 agents in the Three Points and Casa Grande stations, chosen due to the high number of heat-related migrant deaths in recent years.
While Tucson Sector agents perform rescues throughout the year, the summer months are exceptionally dangerous, with temperatures in Southern Arizona expected to exceed 110 degrees this weekend, said Tucson Sector Chief John Modlin at a news conference Thursday.
“Heat exhaustion and heatstroke in the desert are highly probable,” he said. “For a migrant wandering our remote mountains and valleys, potentially abandoned, exposed to the sun, running out of water, they are a certainty.”
Over the past 20 years, the remains of more than 3,900 migrants have been found in Southern Arizona, though the actual number of deaths is likely much higher. The yearly number of deaths has been increasing, with 215 sets of remains found in 2021, as more people are crossing and the journey across the desert only grows more deadly, due in part to barriers and enforcement policies pushing migrants into more remote areas.
From January through April of this year, 54 sets of remains have already been found, according to Humane Borders, a group that partners with the Pima County medical examiner to map migrant deaths in the Arizona borderlands. increases.
The kits are being tried in the Tucson Sector first because of the harsh terrain, the hot summer months, the long distances people have to walk in the elements and the significant number of hospitalizations, casualties and rescue calls, said Assistant Chief William Beltran.
The heat stress kits contain a water-activated cooling towel, cold packs, sunscreen, electrolytes, waterproof tape and a Mylar emergency blanket.
In addition, Customs and Border Protection will train officers and agents to recognize the signs of medical distress.
All agents already carry first-aid kits and water, Modlin said. More than 230 Tucson Sector agents are EMTs and some are trained paramedics, who carry additional medical gear.
Modlin said the agency is constantly reevaluating and looking for ways to do things better. Also, the money for the test kits and corresponding evaluation was recently appropriated. He didn’t know how much funding was allocated for the effort.
CBP is also launching a feasibility study to enhance its workforce’s heat-stress awareness and to provide insights into how to best scale up use of the kits across all sectors.
More rescue beacons for other sectors
Another tool officials already use are rescue beacons, which are placed in the desert where people cross more frequently and which can be seen from far away. CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus told the Star in May that the organization is deploying more rescue beacons as one strategy to cut down on the number of deaths.
The number of beacons will increase from 170 to 250 nationwide, but none will currently be added to the Tucson Sector, one of the deadliest parts of the border, where there have been 34 since at least 2017.
Assistant Chief Christopher DeFreitas said 34 is a number that works in the Tucson Sector, but that there are two more being built, though he didn’t know when they would go into use.
Asked why the deaths are increasing, agents said it’s because the number of people crossing is increasing.
From fiscal year 2020 to 2021, the number of migrant encounters at the border increased threefold, and this year is already 50% ahead of last year, Modlin said.
“So we are seeing an unprecedented amount of people cross the border,” he said. “So of course with that is going to be increases in things like fatalities, unfortunately.”
The Tucson Sector is in the process of upgrading its rescue beacon infrastructure to the newest generation. It will also use spatial data science to help determine the most suitable locations for the rescue beacons.
The sector is also deploying more rescue placards where they are needed most based on analysis of cellphone connectivity, 911 calls, rescue incidents and deaths. The placards are little metal plaques with a number to identify where someone is, which is a quicker way for agents to reach someone than trying to pull the location from cellphone tracking data.
Report calls for CBP to do more
Even with the upgrades, CBP needs to improve data collecting, reporting and evaluation to help rescue migrants in distress and reduce migrant deaths along the border in the Southwest, said an April report to congressional committees from the Government Accountability Office. It found that the Border Patrol has not collected and recorded or reported to Congress complete data on migrant deaths.
The report found that 80% of the migrant deaths CBP reported along the southwest border from fiscal years 2015 through 2019 were in four of the nine sectors — Tucson, Laredo, Rio Grande Valley and San Diego.
“We’re looking at our internal operating procedures and making adjustments to the data collection and ensuring that the system of record can account for everything that’s required,” Assistant Chief DeFreitas said.
The new heat-stress kits are meant for single use, and so wouldn’t be enough if an agent needs to help multiple people at once, which is why the agency continues to partner with the consulates of Mexico and other countries on messaging campaigns to get the word out not to make the treacherous journey, Assistant Chief Beltran said.
Whether the message is reaching the intended audience, agents say there’s no way to really know, but the number of people crossing continues to increase.
“If you’re thinking of crossing the border illegally into the United States, specifically in Arizona, don’t do it,” Modlin said. “The desert is unforgiving. The mountains are unforgiving. Human smuggling organizations are unforgiving. Illegally crossing in this area is a potentially deadly decision.”
