Content warning: Discussion of death, bodies.

The Tucson area is now the Southwest's most dangerous area for immigrants, as well as one of the areas with the largest influx of immigrants. Last November, 64,638 people crossed the border.according to border security statistics.

Immigrant deaths are not a recent issue.since that year Since 2000, the number of migrants dying in the desert north of the border has increased each year.

A possible explanation for this trend emerges from a Border Patrol study. The increasing presence of borders and the militarization of entry barriers in the 1990s. This has led to more people attempting to cross into more isolated areas where there is less border patrol presence.

This means the terrain they traverse is more rugged and the journey more dangerous. Before 2000, the three border counties (Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise) averaged only 20 bodies a year. Pima County Coroner Dr. Gregory Hess. However, by 2002, this number had increased to 151.It reached a high of 223 in 2020, according to data from Humane Border.

Humane Borders reported last year 173 The body of a migrant was found, it said. Hess, In 2023, it is on track to exceed last year's total.

“For us here locally, we don't think we're back to baseline unless you're under 20, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon,” Hess said.

Pima County is on the front lines in tracking migrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border, Hess said. In addition to testing bodies found locally, the county also tests bodies from Cochise and Santa Cruz counties and maintains electronic records of bodies determined to be immigrants. So while anyone can search these records to find information about these deaths, other states like Texas and California don't track them in a similar way.

According to Hess, when a body is found in the desert, whether it's by Border Patrol, a rancher, a hiker or a hunter, law enforcement first investigates the scene and then the body is released into the desert. It is said that it will be brought in. Pima County Medical Center For post-mortem examination.

“Even if we don't know the cause of death, we will issue a death certificate just to tell the government that someone has died, and then we will proceed with the identification process,” Hess said.

This identification can vary greatly on a case-by-case basis and requires adaptability and attention to detail on the part of the person responsible.

“The condition of the remains can vary greatly. Someone's condition in good condition means they haven't been in the desert that long, and usually someone traveling with them can help. We called for help, but the help didn't arrive in time,” Hess said. “A thorough examination of such a person can yield a definitive cause of death, which is often environmentally related.”

These tests often involve conversations with people who know the victim.

“It's not absolute, but we can usually identify such a person. It can take a little bit of time because we have to have conversations with family members and the consulate,” Hess said. .

There may be other challenges in identifying the remains. Many of the bodies brought in have ID cards and other documents affixed to them, but there is no guarantee that these documents will identify the person.

“It provides a clue to who they are, but people may use fake documents or identification, and they may also have a reason not to identify themselves. So just because you find an ID in someone's pocket doesn't always mean it's that person, but it's a starting point,” Hess said. “Having names associated with these remains, based on cards and phone numbers, gives us a starting point to talk to consulates and phone numbers. [non-governmental organizations] These are the people who collect missing person reports to see if any information about the missing person is floating around. ”

Remains sent to Pima County are not always in clear condition. In some cases, there are only bones to work with, and the only way to identify them is through DNA testing.

It is also very difficult to determine the cause of death because it is not known how long the bones were left in the desert, which can range from months to years in some cases. DNA testing is also very expensive, a cost that medical centers cannot easily afford.

“There is no funding for DNA within the county. We can cut out samples of DNA, but we need to identify funding to pay to send those samples to a lab to generate a DNA profile.” It doesn't even involve getting samples from families or comparing the two samples. That's why it takes so long,” Hess said.

Hess said Pima County issues grants for funding about every two years and currently has 300 samples waiting to be tested. The center houses a total of 600 remains, including 800 unidentified remains that were cremated in the past, when the county had a different policy for unidentified remains.

“That's a good thing, for a number of reasons. You don't have to pay a funeral director for cremation or burial. If you need to retest someone, you can do that. And you don't have to worry about who that person is. “If we find out, we can return the remains to the family rather than handing over a bag of remains. It's just a different atmosphere, and most people prefer skeletal remains,” says Hess. he said.

Hess said the medical center plans to continue this policy for the foreseeable future. The center plans to move within the next year to a new building with more storage space and coolers for storing bodies in a central location that will be more cost-effective than the coolers currently located in multiple locations. It will be more effective.

“I think what we're doing will be improved a little bit with the new facility. Better space to do the work we're doing, a better place to store the remains, and this process. It's going to be a better experience for people who are interested in it,” Hess said. “Other than that, I think we’re going to continue to do things the same way we’ve always been, and I really don’t think much will change in the near future.”

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