Deaths of women crossing border doubled in seven years

ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN

TUCSON - Deaths of illegal immigrants crossing the Southwest border have surged since the mid-1990s, with the majority of the increase between 1998 and 2005 concentrated in Arizona, according to an analytical report to Congress.

Meanwhile, the report found the number of deaths among women illegal immigrant crossers has more than doubled in those same seven years - and more than half died in Arizona.

The report took the Border Patrol to task for not having a uniform standard nationwide for collecting data on migrant deaths.

While most deaths have involved men, deaths among women shot from 9 percent to 21 percent of the total between 1998 and 2005, according to the Border Patrol's data. "Deaths among women in the Tucson sector accounted for the majority of the overall increase in deaths among women in all sectors," the study said.

The Border Patrol's Tucson sector encompasses about the easternmost three-fourths of the Arizona-Mexico border and has been the nation's busiest point for illegal immigration for years.