Families crossing U.S. border illegally reached all-time high in August

[Celerity]

1. Border deaths: El Paso's deadliest summer has claimed at least 136 migrant lives

https://eu.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2023/08/30/record-heat-leads-to-el-pasos-worst-ever-worst-ever-migrant-death-toll/70669620007/

Scorching summer heat pushed migrant deaths to a 25-year record in El Paso.U.S. Border Patrol reports at least 136 migrants have died in El Paso Sector, nearly double the number a year ago and the highest recorded in the sector since the agency began reporting migrant deaths in 1998, according to agency statistics.

At least 100 of the deaths occurred between May and August. With one month left in fiscal 2023, the death toll is 87% higher than in all of fiscal 2022, when Border Patrol recorded 71 migrant deaths.

The toll has shocked even seasoned agents and law enforcement officers. "Arizona has always had more deaths than we do because the temperatures are more extreme," said Border Patrol spokesman Fidel Baca. "Here, the weird part is they weren't making it far. But migrants have told us they are being held without sufficient food or water on the Mexican side, or they were waiting for hours in the desert for the opportunity to cross."

El Paso Sector spans 268 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, covering the El Paso metropolitan area and stretching from Hudspeth County in the east across New Mexico to the Arizona state line in the west.

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