**GAO-06-770**                      Published: Aug 15, 2006. Publicly Released: Sep 14, 2006.                  

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## Highlights

Reports in recent years have indicated that increasing numbers of migrants attempting to enter the United States illegally die while crossing the southwest border. The Border Patrol implemented the Border Safety Initiative (BSI) in 1998 with the intention of reducing injuries and preventing deaths among migrants that attempt to cross the border illegally. GAO assessed: (1) Trends in the numbers, locations, causes, and characteristics of border-crossing deaths. (2) Differences among the Border Patrol sectors in implementing the BSI methodology. (3) The extent to which existing data allow for an evaluation of the effectiveness of the BSI and other efforts to prevent border-crossing deaths.

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## Topics

Justice and Law Enforcement

Border controlBorder securityData collectionEvaluation methodsImmigration enforcementImmigrationImmigration and naturalization lawMortalityStatistical methodsBorder patrol