Arizona heat kills 22 illegal aliens

The Arizona summer heat has killed 22 persons attempting to illegally cross into the United States this month, prompting the U.S. Border Patrol to step up its search-and-rescue efforts along the Southwest border with Mexico to keep people from dying in the desert.

Border Patrol spokesman Mario Villarreal said that with late summer temperatures higher than usual in Arizona, the agency's Search, Trauma and Rescue team, known as BORSTAR, has been working nonstop in the deadly alien-trafficking corridor in the western portion of the Sonoran Desert.

Many people seeking to illegally enter the United States through Arizona succumb to dehydration and heat exhaustion in the desert regions, where temperatures often soar past 110 degrees. Most are routed through the area by smugglers, who charge as much as $1,500 a person to bring aliens into this country.

More than 150 people are thought to have died along the Arizona border since Nov. 1.

"In addition to securing and protecting our nation's borders, I am fully committed to supporting the Border Patrol in their efforts to reduce heat-related injuries and prevent more deaths along our borders," said U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, who oversees the Border Patrol.

"Stepped-up enforcement ... coupled with search-and-rescue efforts are key to preventing the unnecessary loss of life in this area," Mr. Bonner said.

The BORSTAR team is considered the premier search-and-rescue team along the U.S.-Mexico border and, Mr. Villarreal said, is "a vital element" of the Border Safety Initiative that rescued 1,347 persons last year on the Southwest border and has rescued more than 1,800 people this year.

Mr. Villarreal said there is a "strong probability" for a record number of alien deaths this year amid an emerging heat wave in Arizona. He noted that the agency had done a temperature comparison study and found that it has been 5 to 15 degrees higher on average this year compared with 2004.

"The heat alone is not to blame but the smugglers who prey on the desperation of undocumented migrants," he said. "CBP Border Patrol will focus on rescue efforts as well as continuing to aggressively target alien smugglers."

The Border Safety Initiative began in June 1998 as a strategy aimed at reducing injuries and fatalities along the Southwest border.

In February 2001, President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox signed a joint statement announcing expanded efforts to save lives along the border.

Both countries agreed to conduct joint training in search-and-rescue techniques and aquatic safety, exchange intelligence on alien smuggling and enhance the effectiveness of outreach efforts to would-be illegal aliens on the dangers of unauthorized border crossings.