Migrant Deaths Decline Along Border
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Authorities Credit Increased Patrols and Enhanced Surveillance Techniques.
Fewer suspected illegal immigrants are being found dead north of the U.S.-Mexico border, even as the number of people attempting to sneak into the country has risen amid a surge of Central American migrants, federal statistics show.
The U.S. Border Patrol recorded 284 immigrant deaths near the southwest border from last October through August, down from 420 over the same period the prior fiscal year, according to the latest figures.
Border Patrol officials attribute the decline to increased patrolling and more effective surveillance technology, which they say is helping agents catch more migrants before they get lost and perish in the desert and ranchlands north of the boundary.
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