New report finds agents chase border crossers into Southwest desert, where they often become lost, are left to die, or disappear altogether

By Nadia Prupis, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 12-7-2016

In 1994, Border Patrol adopted a strategy known as Prevention Through Deterrence, which sought to control the region by increasing the risk of coming into the country without documents. (Photo: Texas Military Department/flickr/cc)

The U.S. Border Patrol has used the south-western desert to set up the death and disappearances of tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants, according to a new report by the Arizona-based advocacy groups No More Deaths/No Más Muertes and La Coalición de Derechos Humanos.

The report, entitled Disappeared: How U.S. Border-Enforcement Agencies are Fueling a Missing-Persons Crisis, finds that Border Patrol agents routinely chase border crossers into “remote terrain,” causing them to scatter, which often causes them to become lost, leading to death, injury, or disappearance. Continue reading →