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Border death toll numbers are in dispute

The number of illegal immigrants who died while trying to cross the border from Mexico declined over the past year, according to preliminary Border Patrol figures released Friday. The total number of known migrant deaths along the entire U.S.-Mexican border dropped to 325 for the fiscal year that ended Thursday, from 340 in the previous fiscal year. Mario Villarreal, a Washington-based spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, which includes the Border Patrol, attributed the decline to cooler, wetter weather in Texas and a repatriation program in Arizona. Under the repatriation program, immigration officials put 14,000 captured migrants on planes headed to Mexico's interior rather than just returning them to the border, making repeat crossing attempts more difficult. In Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point on the Mexican border, the number of immigrants known to have died crossing hit 177 - the highest ever in any of the four states on the border. However, the official count does not include all migration-related bodies recovered by other law enforcement agencies. This year's count in Arizona also excludes skeletal remains and deaths of suspected smugglers. County medical examiner and Mexican consulate records document that at least 218 migrants died trying to cross into the United States through Arizona this fiscal year. The death toll surpassed last year's 205 deaths in Arizona, based on the same records. "It's just one more indication that we have to have comprehensive immigration reform," said the Rev. Robin Hoover, founder of Humane Borders, an immigrant -advocacy group. Hoover accused the Border Patrol of undercounting, noting that yet another count put the death toll for the year at 221 for Arizona alone. Villarreal said the Border Patrol counts bodies found by its agents or those brought to its attention by other law enforcement agencies.