Migrant deaths in the Americas (United States and Mexico)

Over the past two decades, a crisis of unknown proportions has unfolded along migrant routes from the United Mexican States and Central America to the United States of America. From their homes to their destinations, migrants in North America are exposed to disproportionate levels of risk of human rights violations, disappearance and death. The true number of deaths of migrants in transit is unknown, but the existing numbers, thought to be incomplete, are in the thousands. The absence of complete data on the dead and missing along migrant routes represents a secondary crisis beyond the initial loss of life of hundreds of migrants each year (Jimenez, 2009; Martínez et al., 2013; Martínez et al., 2014). Not only does this absence of information present “a serious barrier to determining the steps that need to be taken to mitigate the prevalence of migrant deaths along the border” (Amnesty International, 2012:17), but it also presents serious challenges to the identification of the dead. Thousands of families wait without answers regarding the whereabouts of missing loved ones.

Related Subject(s): Migration