The number of migrants dying in the deserts of southern Arizona now is higher than it has been in decades.
That’s the finding from a new investigation from the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson. Reporters Curt Prendergast and Alex Devoid analyzed medical examiner data going back decades and built a statistical model of migrant deaths. They listened to audio of 911 calls of distress from people lost and scared in the borderlands, they reviewed countless incident reports from local enforcement and they walked migrant paths through the desert with Border Patrol agents and humanitarian aid groups.
And they found that the crisis is intensifying.
The Show spoke with Prendergast more about the yearslong project and how, even after all of their work, it’s still impossible to grasp the full extent of the problem.
