14 Mexican Immigrants Die in Arizona Desert

At least 14 Mexican immigrants have died and more than 100 have been rescued in separate incidents across southern Arizona since Thursday, the U.S. Border Patrol said Monday.

The latest fatalities were reported Monday, and involved a male and female who apparently succumbed to triple-digit temperatures near Tucson, said Ryan Scudder, a spokesman for the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, which covers 84,000 square miles.

“The only other time we’ve had so many deaths in so short a time was a year ago last week, when 14 migrants died in the Yuma area,” he said. “But they were all part of one group.

“The situation right now is scattered across the wide open desert--trying to keep up with all the information coming in has been difficult.”

The distress calls started coming in Thursday, when woman’s body was found within the sprawling Tohono O’Odham Nation’s reservation southwest of Tucson. The same evening, the Border Patrol found another dead woman and rescued three others in the vicinity of Ajo, Ariz.

Among a total of nine victims found on the reservation was a 2-year-old boy, authorities said.

In a separate incident Friday, a rescued man told of compatriots who had been left behind in the desert. Border Patrol officials backtracked and discovered a dead man and rescued six others.

In yet another incident in the same general area, reservation police and Border Patrol agents found one man dead and rescued 43 others. One of the survivors appeared in Tucson federal court Monday on charges of alien smuggling.

More bodies turned up Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the 45 miles of desert between Tucson and Casa Grande, Scudder said.

“These people were found in all variations of heat distress and terrain,” he said. “Some had water; some didn’t. Some were dehydrated before they started trying to walk across the Arizona desert.

“In most cases, their smugglers promised it’d be an easy walk over the border and on to Phoenix.”

The rugged, searing terrain along the Arizona-Mexico border has become a popular corridor for immigrant smugglers since the inception of various programs that have increased the number of border agents around San Diego.

Late last month, the Immigration and Naturalization Service unveiled an assortment of new measures and high-tech devices to heighten security and safety along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

They included two 30-foot-high “rescue beacon” towers in the desert outside of Yuma designed to emit distress signals.

A metal plate posted at the base advises migrants in English and Spanish: “If you need help, push red button. U.S. Border Patrol will arrive in 1 hour. Do not leave this location.” More beacons are expected.

In the meantime, with regional temperatures expected to hit 105 by week’s end, Border Patrol Agent David Bemiller said, “We’ve stepped up our search and rescue patrols.”