26 migrants have been found dead at the southern border so far this year amid the recent lifting of “Title 42.”
According to Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez, deputies recovered the bodies or remains of at least 26 migrants between January 1 and July 1. Most of the discoveries involved the collection of skeletal remains scattered by animals and scavenger birds.
26 Migrants Found Dead in One Texas County this Year https://t.co/8WcrJBaBck
— Bob Price (@BobPriceBBTX) July 16, 2023
“Most of the time, that is all that is left,” Martinez told Breitbart. “It doesn’t take long with the animals and the heat for a human body to decay.”
There are different circumstances concerning body recovery. According to Martinez last year, some people die either before or right after law enforcement responds to emergency calls for assistance from migrants or their relatives.
Others, meanwhile, are discovered either when they are reported by other migrants who are detained later or when they are discovered days later by ranchers or Border Patrol agents.
“Some have been consumed by animals and the elements and only bones remain to tell their stories,” the sheriff said at the time.
Martinez then blamed human smugglers for the deaths of the migrants, saying, “These smugglers have no regard for the value of human life. Many migrants are not prepared for the strenuous conditions they face when trying to hike in this terrain. The soft sand on the ranches makes one mile feel like three.”
According to Breitbart, Border Patrol agents have recovered the bodies or remains of at least 880 migrants who died while or shortly after crossing the Mexican border into the U.S. during FY2022.
This comes as the U.S. has been seeing massive migrant numbers since President Joe Biden announced last year that he would be lifting “Title 42,” a controversial border policy implemented by former President Donald Trump back in March 2020 that allowed the border agency to turn migrants away.
Since then, nearly 2.4 million migrants were detained at the border for the fiscal year ending in September, surpassing the already-historic number of 1.7 million migrant detainees in 2021. The numbers are likely to increase now that “Title 42” has been lifted.
