More people die while being arrested by Homeland Security’s border agency than any other branch of federal law enforcement, according to Justice Department data that showed a sharp rise in deaths in 2021, the first year under President Biden.
Experts said it’s another grim yardstick of the surge of migrants that’s overwhelmed Customs and Border Protection.
CBP was averaging fewer than 13 arrest deaths a year from 2016 to 2020, but saw that number shoot up to 48 in fiscal year 2021.
That accounted for nearly half of all 105 arrest-related deaths recorded by federal law enforcement that year. The U.S. Marshals Service, which had previously been at the top of the list for deaths, slipped to second with 39. No other agency topped 10 deaths that year.
“You have to ask yourself what percentage of these are preventable,” said Vicki B. Gaubeca, associate director for border policy at Human Rights Watch.
The deaths include use of force cases, but they also include falls from the border wall, migrants struck by vehicles while fleeing from agents, and migrants who were in medical distress when agents reached them and who died of their ailments.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has reported data on federal arrest-related deaths dating back to 2016, with the 2021 data, released last month, being the newest.
CBP’s annual numbers ranged from a low of 4 deaths in 2018 to 25 in 2019, which was the previous migrant surge under President Trump. But 2021 nearly doubled that record.
Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents line agents, said it’s a matter of math: More people coming means more chances for arrest-related deaths.
“It is sheer numbers,” he said.
The agency reported encounters with nearly 2 million unauthorized migrants in fiscal year 2021. That’s three times the rate of 2020, when fewer than 650,000 were recorded. CBP also makes arrests of U.S. citizens for smuggling and other offenses.
When viewed as a ratio of arrest-deaths per encounter, things look better. In 2021, there were 2.82 arrest deaths per 100,000 encounters, down from 4.15 a year before. The ratio was 2.56 in 2019 and 1.92 in 2018.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has not released data for fiscal years 2022 or 2023, which are likely to be even more deadly as CBP set progressively higher records for illegal immigration.
In a statement to The Washington Times, the agency said most of the deaths stem not from agency actions to enforce the law but from the rough conditions at the border and the cruelty of the smugglers.
“In-custody deaths may not reflect any use of force, as the vast majority of migrant deaths do not include use of force by CBP and the very nature of the CBP rescue mission means we encounter individuals who have been placed in very dangerous circumstances by unscrupulous smugglers, whether by dropping them from barriers, pushing them to enter water despite strong currents, or abandoning them in the desert,” the agency said.
Ms. Gaubeca, though, said the U.S. bears some blame.
She said years of increased border security have pushed migrants to make crossings in more remote and hostile territory, piling up the deaths. The border wall is an example. Deadly falls from the wall have reportedly spiked after the Trump-era building spree.
CBP didn’t directly address the large leap in deaths in 2021, but said it got orders from Congress that year — and more money — to “enhance our already robust reporting.”
CBP earlier this year submitted its first-ever “CBP-Related Deaths” report to Capitol Hill. The report covered fiscal year 2021, the same year as the latest BJS statistics, and gave unprecedented detail on 151 deaths, including 55 it deemed “in-custody.”
Of the 55, CBP said 18 of those were distress calls, 6 were drownings, 7 were falls, 6 were pursuits and 4 involved someone struck by a vehicle. Nine were deemed “use of force,” and 5 were other types of deaths.
A breakdown for previous years is not available.
CBP is the largest federal law enforcement agency and, because of the border, encounters millions of people. In addition to the 2 million unauthorized migrants, it processed nearly 180 million travelers at land border crossings, airports and seaports.
The U.S. Marshals Service, by contrast, reported 84,000 fugitive arrests in 2021. That works out to about 46 deaths for every 100,000 arrests, or far higher than CBP’s ratio.
Under the definition CBP uses, an arrest-related death occurs when the person’s “freedom to leave is restricted” by a law enforcement officer acting in an official capacity. That includes during questioning, but it also covers deaths during attempts at apprehension.
That’s where migrants who were already in distress come into play.
Those numbers have soared as the border spiraled out of control early in Mr. Biden’s tenure. The Border Patrol says it made 12,857 rescues in fiscal year 2021, or more than twice the 5,336 of a year earlier.
Agents also saw a huge increase in total border deaths, going from 254 in 2020 to 568 in 2021.
While the data may lag in terms of time, CBP is now reporting details far beyond what most other law enforcement agencies do. The agency releases updated rescue numbers monthly, and it posts public notices about each in-custody death, though often after a significant delay for family notifications.
Ms. Gaubeca also said there’s a reason why Congress stepped in to demand more details on the deaths.
“They’re not doing it because they want to do it. They’re doing it because there was an act passed by Congress that required them to do this,” she said. “We have been following the same pattern for 30 years. If we truly want to prevent these deaths from happening we have to change our paradigm on the border and create a more humane, rights-respecting process at the U.S.-Mexico border.”
It’s unclear what steps the agency might be taking to reduce the deaths and Mr. Judd said he doesn’t see answers beyond the most obvious one — stopping the flow of people.
“CBP has done nothing to curb deaths but to be fair, we’re already trained pretty well so I don’t know what they could do from that standpoint. If they truly cared about life, they would do something about the overwhelming numbers,” he said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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