Arizona migrant border deaths on track for record amid extreme heat
By Anita Snow
article
A general view of the US border fence, covered in concertina wire, separating the US and Mexico, at the outskirts of Nogales, Arizona, on February 9, 2019. (Photo by ARIANA DREHSLER/AFP via Getty Images)
DOUGLAS, Ariz. (AP) - Heat exposure killed 19-year-old Cesar de la Cruz on an Arizona trail in July during his trek up from southern Mexico. The body of Juan Lopez Valencia, another young Mexican man, was discovered Aug. 3 along a dry wash on Native American land.
After the hottest, driest summer in state history, authorities have recovered close to a 10-year record in the number of bodies of people who crossed from Mexico into Arizona’s deserts, valleys and mountains. It’s a reminder that the most remote paths to enter the U.S. can be the deadliest.