The Deadly Checkpoint
A yearlong investigation captured the intense desperation experienced by dying migrants and produced a life-saving influx of search-and-rescue agents to the region.
An anthropology student inspects the bones of a suspected undocumented immigrant after they were exhumed from a gravesite on May 22, 2013 in Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas. In Brooks County alone, at least 129 immigrants perished in 2012, most of dehydration while making the long crossing from Mexico. Teams from Baylor University and the University of Indianapolis are exhuming the bodies of more than 50 immigrants who died, mostly from heat exhaustion, while crossing illegally from Mexico into the United States. The bodies will be examined and cross checked with DNA sent from Mexico and Central American countries, with the goal of reuniting the remains with families.
Awards
Investigations
The Real Death Valley
Hundreds of migrants have died in the sweltering Texas brush—some while waiting hours for Border Patrol to respond to their 911 calls.
Muriendo Por Cruzar
Facing brutal weather conditions, hundreds of migrants have died in Brooks County, Texas over the past two and a half years.
Graves of Shame
A Texas Rangers inquiry found “no evidence” of wrongdoing in the botched handling of migrant remains in Brooks County. New evidence indicates rampant violations of the law.
Left for Dead
An undignified end for unidentified migrants in Texas.
