Preventing Border Deaths

Since the Border Patrol started its “Operation Gatekeeper” in 1994 to curb illegal immigration, would-be migrants have drifted eastward of San Diego looking for back-country routes across the border. More than 350 have died in the rugged, lightly populated region since the successful operation began.

Last week eight people died and 50 more had to be rescued after a freak snowstorm hit the mountains of San Diego County. Last August, others died in the California desert’s 110-degree heat near the Salton Sea.

With more storms expected through the weekend, border crossers continue to face great danger even though spring is here. Authorities in Mexico and the United States have a moral obligation to try to prevent more deaths. Mexico says there is little it can do, given that its constitution guarantees freedom of transit. But that’s a hollow excuse. Through billboards, print ads and radio and television announcements, both Mexico and the United States should redouble their efforts to warn would-be migrants.

Cracking down harder on the “coyotes” who abandon their clients in the wilderness after being paid could help too. California authorities have arrested three suspects in the smuggling of dozens of immigrants, including some of last week’s dead. Those who illegally traffic in human cargo bear immediate responsibility for migrant deaths, and they should be prosecuted to the severest extent of the law.