The U.S.-Mexico border is the deadliest migration land route in the world, according to a United Nations study published Tuesday.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) documented 686 migrant deaths and disappearances last year on the route to the southern border. Paul Dillon, a spokesman for IOM, said that the total represents the lowest estimates available due to missing data from U.S. and Mexican government officials.
“The alarming figures are a stark reminder of the need for decisive action to create regular legal migration pathways,” he told reporters in Geneva, according to Reuters.
The total tracked migrant deaths and disappearances in the Americas last year was 1,457 — the largest number on record since IOM began its study in 2014. The total at the U.S.-Mexico border accounts for nearly half of the tragedies.
Michele Klein Solomon, IOM’s regional director for Central and North America and the Caribbean, said government entities need to take action to protect migrant lives.
“The alarming figures are a stark reminder of the need for decisive action by States,” Solomon said in a press release from the IOM. “Enhancing data collection is crucial. Ultimately, what is needed is for countries to act on the data to ensure safe, regular migration routes are accessible.”
Nearly half of the deaths from migration to the southern border were in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan desert regions, the IOM said.
Advocates for stronger border security argue that lenient approaches to immigration laws incentivize unlawful migrants to embark on the dangerous trip. Numerous people crossing the Rio Grande into Texas have drowned in the river as unlawful immigration has increased in recent years.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott attempted to counter these crossings with buoys and nets, which The Dallas Express has reported on extensively. However, the Biden administration responded with a lawsuit, citing reasons including “humanitarian concerns.”
In a letter imploring President Joe Biden to drop the lawsuit, Abbott wrote, “If you truly care about human life, you must begin enforcing federal immigration laws. By doing so, you can help me stop migrants from wagering their lives in the waters of the Rio Grande River.”
“To end the risk that migrants will be harmed crossing the border illegally, you must fully enforce the laws of the United States that prohibit illegal immigration between ports of entry.”
Fifty-three unlawful immigrants suffocated to death in the back of a truck after being abandoned by human smugglers last year in San Antonio, as The Dallas Express reported.
The 1,457 total deaths and disappearances from migration in the Americas in 2022 is a slight increase from the 2021 total of 1,249, which was a spike from 798 in 2020, according to IOM.
“The fact that we know so little about migrants who disappear in the Americas is a grim reality,” said Marcelo Pisani, IOM’s regional director for South America. “The impacts on the families left behind to search endlessly for a lost loved one are profound.”
