Crossing the US/Mexico border.

According to the US Border Patrol, 1,954 people died crossing the US/Mexico border between the years 1998-2004, from all causes. In 2004, 325 persons are reported to have died. The leading causes of death are heat stroke, dehydration, and hypothermia. Significant numbers of illegal immigrants also die in car accidents and other accidental causes.

In addition to the natural causes, there are suspicions that some immigrant deaths are intentionally caused.

Historically speaking, the subject of immigrant killings in the United States date back to at least the 1850s, the first such incident possibly being the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, when 120 immigrants from Arkansas were shot down in Utah.

Recent killings of immigrants.

Since the middle 1990s, Border Patrol police in the United States have been dealing with the violent deaths of Illegal immigrants, particularly in the state of Arizona. The number of deaths of immigrants in the United States-Mexico border has been increasing on a regular, yearly basis since the middle 1990s, garnering the attention of news media and law enforcement alike. Usually, American citizens are prime suspects of committing these crimes, although it can be hard to identify the killer or killers.

The killings have caused tension between the United States and other countries, particularly Mexico, where a majority of immigrants that enter the United States through the Southwestern borders come from. General consulates across the Southwest United States, in particular those of Hispanic countries, have condemned the violent deaths of immigrants across the border.

It is often very hard for the police to identify the suspects, because many groups might be involved. Authorities think that most of the violent deaths have been orchestrated either by local farmers or by immigrant smugglers, known as coyotes. The Coyotes, a term used to describe people who drive immigrants into the United States, are infamous for the way in which they treat their clients, who are also often deemed as human cargo. Cases of rape and beatings by coyotes have been reported by immigrants. The number of times this has happened, however, is hard to tell because so many immigrants are afraid they would be deported if they go to the police for help. Because of the violent nature of most coyotes, they are among the first groups of people that the police points at when they find bodies of immigrants who have apparently been murdered across the American border.

It is illegal to kill anyone in the United States as long as the victim is not threatening someone's life, even in a situation when a person is invading a private home. The Border Patrol in Arizona has been clear in asking citizens to call the police if immigrants invade their property and not to take the law into their own hands.

Many farmers in South Arizona have expressed that they would shoot someone, even if unarmed, if they trespass their property. Some farmers have been arrested and accused of killing immigrants. Not all farmers think that violence should be used, however, but some call themselves vigilantes and are known for carrying guns and rifles to protect their land from invaders by shooting.

Outside vigilantes and hate groups

In 2000, a group that named themselves the Neighborhood Watch Ranch sent a letter to many houses across the United States, encouraging other Americans to go to Arizona and "have some fun under the sun", shooting immigrants.

United States Mexico barrier.

The United States Mexico barrier is actually several separation barriers designed to prevent illegal immigration into the United States from the territory of adjacent Mexico. Its chief target is Mexican nationals and other Latin Americans, although in recent years other groups (particularly Asians of different nationalities) have also been using the porous Mexican border to secure access to the USA (the Border Patrol refers to those from other countries as "Other Than Mexican" (OTM)). The barriers were built as part of three larger "Operations" to control illegal immigration, Operation Gatekeeper in California, Operation Hold-the-Line in Texas, and Operation Safeguard in Arizona. The intention of these barriers is to force immigrants to cross the border through more difficult lands, with the assumption that this will deter migration. Some United States/Mexico border scholars have claimed that these operations are just a public relations ploy used to convince U.S. citizens that the border is "secure", while the economy benefits from the continuing flow of cheap labor across the border.

The 3140 km (1,951 mile) border between the United States and Mexico traverses a variety of terrains, including urban areas and deserts. The barrier is located in the urban sections of the border, the areas that have been the location of the greatest number of illegal crossings in the past. These urban areas include San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas. As a result of the success of the barrier, there has been a marked increase in the number of people trying to cross the Sonoran Desert and the Baboquivari Mountains in Arizona. Such migrants must cross 80 km (50 miles) of inhospitable terrain to reach the first road, which is located in the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation.

Between October 1, 2003, and April 30, 2004, 660,390 people were detained by the United States Border Patrol as they tried to cross the border illegally. Between 43 and 61 people have died trying to cross the Sonoran Desert during that same time period, a value three times that of the same period the previous year. In October, 2004 the Border Patrol announced that 325 people had died crossing the entire border during the previous 12 months. Between 1998-2004, 1,954 persons are officially reported to have died along the US/Mexico border.