NPR

Border Patrol Faces Backlash From Aid Groups Over Migrant Deaths

While humanitarian groups argue Border Patrol is intentionally funneling migrants into dangerous sections along the U.S.-Mexico border, agents say smugglers are the real culprits.
U.S. Border Patrol agent Nicole Ballistrea watches over the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Nogales, Ariz., in Dec. 2014.

As lawmakers in Washington consider a path forward on immigration policy, the debate is playing out along desolate stretches of the southwestern border where at least 7,209 people have died while crossing illegally over the past 20 years.

A report by the aid group No More Deaths claiming that Border Patrol agents humanitarian efforts is also highlighting the tensions between federal agents and

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