Mapping migrant deaths near the border’s virtual wall

MIT Technology Review and Times of San Diego built what they describe as the first comprehensive map and analysis of migrant deaths near US border surveillance towers, drawing on a 15-month review of records, site visits and interviews with more than 45 people. The project examined deaths dating back to 2015 and compared them with the locations, types and installation timelines of Customs and Border Protection towers.

The dataset merged records from No More Deaths, Humane Borders, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and more than a dozen agencies. Texas required extensive public records work across 17 counties, producing usable records from 14 of them and over 4,000 pages of case files. In total, the analysis included more than 1,500 Texas cases, more than 1,700 Arizona cases from Humane Borders and nearly 1,000 cases from No More Deaths, for a total of nearly 4,000 cases.

The team matched deaths to nearby towers only when the remains were found within a tower’s published surveillance range and the tower was present during the estimated death window. Satellite imagery, government documents, Street View, company materials and expert interviews helped establish tower locations, capabilities and timing, while topographical analysis estimated whether terrain may have blocked a tower’s view.