UN: Flow slows, but migrant deaths on US-Mexico border climb

GENEVA – The U.N.’s migration agency has tallied a 3-per cent increase last year in the number of migrants who died trying to enter the United States from Mexico, despite signs of a sharp drop-off in crossings overall in the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency.

The International Organization for Migration recorded 412 migrant deaths last year, up from 398 in 2016.

However, the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project pointed to figures from the U.S. Border Patrol showing a 44-per cent drop in “apprehensions” on the border last year, to just over 341,000.

IOM says the increasing likelihood of arrest tends to drive migrants to seek “more remote routes”, making it harder to get them help if needed.

The agency tallied 191 migrant deaths in Texas alone, amounting to a 26-per cent jump in the state.