Officials from the Tucson Sector Border Patrol informed the growing number of migrants who were crossing the border about the risks they were in as the desert temperatures were getting close to 100 degrees. The sector reported a significant increase in the total number of migrant apprehensions this year, which includes a rise in migrant families of about 400 percent.
As temperatures hit the 100-degree Fahrenheit (almost 38-degree Celsius) mark, Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent John R. Modlin released a video alerting migrants of the risks of crossing the border entering the Arizona desert. The movie serves as a warning about the great distances and isolation that refugees must traverse in order to cross the desert.
For instance, migrants crossing close to Lukeville, Arizona, must endure a five-day foot march across difficult terrain to reach Interstate 8 at a distance of 101 miles (162 kilometers). The 132-mile (32-kilometer) trek from the border to reaching Casa Grande would take around six days.
Headlines from stories describing the unprecedented number of migrant deaths in the area are also shown in the film. The video cautions that “entering the United States will become considerably more dangerous as the temperature rises. Crossing the border puts your life in danger.”
The Tucson Sector, one of the nine southwest Border Patrol sectors, has risen the ranks to become the second-busiest at the time of the alert. Agents from the Tucson Sector detained over 34,000 migrants in March who attempted to cross the border between the ports of entry. This is second only to the El Paso Sector, which reported almost 40,000 arrests in March and is up about 25% from the prior year.
The sector’s March report shows an almost 505 percent increase in the number of migrants traveling with families who have been captured crossing the border, which is perhaps the most alarming development as temperatures climb.
Large migrant groups are now coming across the border into the Tucson Sector. Chief Modlin posted a report saying that two sizable migrant caravans totaling 476 individuals were apprehended over the weekend close to Lukeville, the area shown in the aforementioned video.
According to Modlin’s tweet, “These groups frequently disperse over a sizable rural area, increasing the risk of separation and abandonment. Particularly alarming given that local temps are rapidly approaching 100 degrees.”
