Remains of 19 migrants found in Southern Arizona in July, a two-year high

For Tucson residents who hike, work, volunteer or travel through Southern Arizona’s borderlands, July brought a grim reminder that the region’s migrant death crisis has not eased. The remains of 19 migrants, including children, were recovered in the desert during the month, the highest monthly total in two years, according to data from the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner and Humane Borders. The discoveries occurred even as Border Patrol encounters have fallen sharply under the Trump administration’s stricter immigration policies.

The timing of several discoveries suggests that many of the deaths happened recently. Humane Borders reported that five people had likely been dead for less than a day when found, while two others had been dead for less than a week. Four had been dead for less than three months. The remains were located across the remote borderlands, where extreme heat, limited water and difficult terrain can quickly turn a migration route into a deadly trap. Humane Borders operates dozens of water stations in the desert for migrants, hikers and anyone else who needs emergency assistance.

July’s total brings the number of migrant remains recovered in Southern Arizona this year to 73, according to the medical examiner’s figures cited in reporting. That is 14 more than during the same period last year. While 19 deaths represent a two year monthly high, the number is not unprecedented for the summer. In July 2005, 69 sets of remains were found, and 42 were recovered during July three years ago. Brad Jones, a political science professor at the University of California, Davis Global Migration Center and a Humane Borders board member, described the crisis as ongoing rather than a problem limited to one month.

Since Humane Borders began tracking the deaths in 2000, more than 4,500 migrant remains have been found in Southern Arizona. The organization’s online map marks thousands of locations and records information collected by the county medical examiner. That count is almost certainly incomplete. Human remains can be scattered or destroyed by heat, weather and wildlife, and the discovery of a body often depends on chance. A hiker, law enforcement officer or another person may happen upon remains long after a person died. Jones has said the actual number could be several times higher than the documented total.

Dehydration and exposure are the most common causes of death, but medical examiner records also include hypothermia and blunt force injuries. A person who becomes disoriented, collapses or loses consciousness can suffer fatal injuries on the rocky desert floor. The danger is especially severe during summer, when temperatures can climb to 120 degrees. Border Patrol has repeatedly warned people not to attempt the crossing in the heat, noting that smugglers may abandon travelers who can no longer continue.

The deaths are unfolding despite a steep decline in recorded encounters with migrants. Customs and Border Protection reported 1,544 apprehensions in the Tucson Sector in July. The sector extends from the New Mexico border to the Yuma County line. Border agents recorded nearly 9,300 apprehensions nationwide during the month. Other reporting found that July 2026 encounters were nearly 10 times lower than in July 2024, the final full year of the Biden administration. Advocates and researchers say the lower numbers do not mean migration has stopped. Instead, people may be taking more remote and dangerous routes, where they are less likely to be detected and more likely to die unseen.

That pattern dates back to the federal government’s prevention through deterrence strategy, adopted in 1994 during the Clinton administration and associated with Operation Gatekeeper. The approach increased enforcement and barriers around more populated crossing areas, with the goal of pushing migrants into isolated terrain so the dangers would discourage future attempts. Critics say the policy has not eliminated migration because people continue to flee political and economic instability, seek work or reunite with family. It has, however, directed more journeys into the mountains and desert of Southern Arizona. A 2010 Congressional Research Service report acknowledged that the strategy had shifted crossings into remote areas and increased the risk of fatalities.

Humane Borders Executive Director Octavio Fuentes has argued that both Republican and Democratic administrations have maintained this framework despite decades of deaths. The current administration has restricted asylum access, revived policies requiring many asylum seekers to wait in Mexico and changed the CBP One application from an appointment tool into a mechanism encouraging people to leave the country. In June, the Supreme Court overturned a 2024 appeals court ruling involving the government’s metering policy, which limits access to asylum at official ports of entry. Advocates say closing safer legal routes leaves more people with the choice of crossing between ports, often with smugglers and without enough water.

The border wall has continued expanding as well. Congress provided $46 billion for construction under the Trump administration, with work continuing in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Indigenous tribes, environmental advocates and national park supporters have opposed portions of the construction, including proposed infrastructure in Big Bend National Park. For Tucson artist Álvaro Enciso, the human cost of these policies is not an abstraction. For a decade, he and Tucson Samaritans volunteers have spent Tuesdays placing handmade crosses in the desert to remember people who died there. One cross near the border wall honors Julian Xochiquiquisqui Tlehuactle, a 20 year old Mexican migrant whose body was found in 2013 after he apparently died from heat exposure. The crosses, water stations and death map make visible a crisis that the desert can otherwise conceal, while the July discoveries show that the danger remains present for anyone living or working near Southern Arizona’s border.