In the past five years, 13 people in southern New Mexico have died in a Border Patrol car chase. That’s a huge uptick from the previous five years — in which no such deaths occurred, according to the Southern Border Communities Coalition, a San Diego-based organization of 60 border communities in California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.
According to an SBCC report, Border Patrol’s chases are more deadly than its shootings: Between 2010 and 2022, 38 percent of people killed in an encounter with immigration agents died from a car chase, car accident or vehicle explosion. By comparison, fatal shootings attributed to the Border Patrol made up just 28 percent of violent deaths.
The chases might be instigated to apprehend undocumented immigrants, but they can end up hurting — and killing — U.S. citizens, as well. According to a review of the agency’s own published statements, 23 percent of crash fatalities in New Mexico involve U.S. citizens; nationally, that rate is at least 10 percent. It is likely that these statistics are a significant undercount, since many law enforcement reports don’t reveal the victim’s nationality.
Source: Dozens have died in high-speed chases instigated by U.S. Border Patrol
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