Migrant deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border hit record high, in part due to drownings

Almost 800 migrants have died this past fiscal year attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Many of the migrant deaths come from drownings in the Rio Grande, the river that divides the two countries.

"It seems like it's a slow-moving river, but it's fairly swift. It is very deceptive, very dangerous," said Manuel Mello, the fire chief in Eagle Pass, one of the most dangerous crossing points at the border.

The Rio Grande can appear fairly easy to cross but can become very dangerous, especially when the river is high after heavy rains.

"We all just jumped into the river without knowing how deep it was, and how strong the currents were," said Venezuelan migrant Anderson Infante, who attempted to cross the river a few weeks ago and rescued a woman in his group that was drowning.

The fire department is usually in charge of recovering the bodies of the migrants that drown while trying to cross. While the department used to get one or two calls a month a month reporting a drowning, now it gets dozens.

"It's basically a drowning a day that you're seeing," Mello said.

While many migrants have died trying to cross the Rio Bravo, or angry river as it is known in Spanish, many others have died from extreme heat near the border or have suffocated in the back of tractor-trailers.

The current fiscal year has been the deadliest for migrants trying to make their way into the United States. Since last October, when the fiscal year began, at least 782 migrants have died, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officials. At least 30 of these deaths have been in September alone.

This year has also seen a record number of migrant encounters at the border, reaching more than two million undocumented migrants that have been stopped at the border while attempting to cross.

In August alone, Border Patrol officers encountered more than 208,000, 317% more than in August 2020 and 233% more than in August 2019.