EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Immigration advocates are calling for asylum restrictions between ports of entry to be relaxed, as migrants placing their lives in the hands of smugglers are dying in record numbers here.

A total of 176 migrants died in canals, mountains and the desert in El Paso and southern New Mexico in the recently concluded fiscal year 2024. That’s 27 more than the previous record of 149 deceased migrants border agents encountered in FY 2023.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Alan Lizarraga, a spokesman for the Border Network for Human Rights. “There is a lot of frustration to know that person was a father, a mother, somebody’s son or uncle. People arriving here are people who have families, people who work hard and have dreams. Sadly, when they arrive at the border they become just another number.”

BNHR and the Hope Border Institute say they noticed a steep increase in migrant fatalities after the White House on June 4 issued an executive order banning most foreign nationals from applying for asylum if they came into the country between ports of entry.

The federal government is now requiring asylum-seekers to make an online appointment at a port of entry through the CBP One app. But activists say the app has issues and that many vulnerable populations stuck in Mexico don’t have the means to survive for long periods of time and are exposed to extortion, kidnapping and assault by criminals.

That’s why they get desperate and seek to enter the U.S. by any means available as soon as possible.

Lizarraga said the high number of fatalities “represents the horrors and cruelty of our immigration system and of the operations that are happening in our southern border. People migrating are being met with harsh words, force (and) concertina wire.”

He was referring not only to the asylum ban between ports of entry but also the State of Texas’ Operation Lone Star, which has deployed thousands of soldiers, Department of Public Safety troopers and miles of razor wire to the border.

This summer, most migrant deaths occurred in the mountains and desert of southern New Mexico. Many took place in the busy migrant smuggling corridor west of Mount Cristo Rey in Sunland Park, New Mexico, and the Columbus Highway (NM State Road 9).

“It was very unfortunate to see that number go up in the summer, especially after the new asylum proclamation was announced in June,” said Aimee Santillan, policy analyst for Hope Border Institute. “And we saw a huge increase in the number of people that are coming through the desert, trying not to be detected by Border Patrol.”

The fatalities reflect that vulnerable populations are putting themselves in harm’s way because they see little alternatives, she said. A group of volunteers who have located multiple remains in the desert of New Mexico say half the victims were women.

Others may have been part of a larger group that got left behind by smugglers for not being able to keep up or perhaps after suffering an injury or a fall. Border agents have told Border Report in the past many of the migrants they apprehend are malnourished and haven’t been given sufficient water at stash houses where they are kept across the border prior to being helped over the U.S. border wall.

Santillan called for expanded legal pathways so that migrants can approach the U.S. border without resorting to smugglers, and improvements to the CBP One app.

“There are a number of issues with CBP One: Giving appointments at random times, making people wait for long periods of time, language barriers and other factors the app does not account for. It’s just a recipe for this kind of death crisis that we are seeing,” Santillan said.

The Hope Border Institute say the death toll this year would have been higher if not for the efforts of first responders like the El Paso Fire Department, the Sunland Park Fire Department, and federal agencies monitoring the border.

The Border Patrol, for instance, has rescued 981 migrants in harm’s way in the El Paso Sector since Oct. 1, 2023. U.S. Customs and Border Protection last month deployed a tethered aerostat with long-range cameras in Santa Teresa to detect groups that come over the border wall and anyone who may be wondering the desert.

“I want to acknowledge the incredible work that local first responders in El Paso, in Doña Ana County and New Mexico in general to respond to calls of crisis,” Santillan said. “Through conversations with them and conversations with Border Patrol we know they are understaffed and underfunded when it comes to search and rescue operations. They just don’t have enough trained staff to assist people dying of heat exposure at 107 degrees.

“The border needs more resources.”