More women and children are dying while attempting to reach the U.S. as Texas and Mexico increasingly militarize the border. Public records reveal a rising death toll in the Rio Grande, often higher than official figures suggest.
The river dividing the U.S. and Mexico—known as the Rio Grande in the U.S. and Río Bravo in Mexico—has become a deadly obstacle for migrants. Many of those who perish are never officially documented by authorities on either side.
Crossings have surged in recent years. In 2021, Texas launched Operation Lone Star, a multi-billion-dollar effort aimed at preventing asylum seekers from entering the U.S., including hundreds of miles of razor wire, floating buoys, and other barriers. Meanwhile, Mexico doubled its troop presence along its northern border by 2022. Yet, despite these measures, deaths continued to rise.
Lighthouse Reports, working with The Washington Post in the U.S. and El Universal in Mexico, spent a year gathering and analyzing data from every Texas county and Mexican state along the Rio Grande. Our research identified at least 1,107 migrant drownings between Texas and Mexico from 2017 to 2023—a figure far exceeding previous estimates.
In Texas alone, 858 drownings were documented, compared with 587 recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) across the entire southwest border. In Mexico, where no single agency systematically tracks migration-related deaths, we documented 249 drownings.
Eagle Pass, Texas, was the deadliest stretch during this period and has been described as “ground zero” for Operation Lone Star. Prior to 2021, most bodies were found near the city’s international bridges, but as border barriers increased, victims were discovered further downstream.
While our data cannot definitively link Operation Lone Star to increased drownings, experts note that militarization on both sides of the border pushes migrants toward more remote and hazardous river crossings.
Our findings also show shifting demographics among drowning victims. More families with children are attempting the crossing: in 2023, about 20% of victims were women and 10% were children. Migrants from countries other than Mexico increasingly appear in the death toll. After peaking in 2022, drownings fell slightly in 2023, though early 2024 data suggest numbers are rising again.
Methods
We requested records of Rio Grande drownings from 165 agencies across the U.S. and Mexico. After hundreds of emails, calls, and 25 in-person visits to Texas offices, 52 sources provided data. Many agencies reported they did not maintain records, some demanded high fees, and others refused to respond. Data collection was particularly challenging in Mexico.
Official figures in both countries are incomplete, leaving many deaths uncounted. Our numbers were benchmarked against CBP data, as well as Freedom of Information Act requests and media reports. Child drownings were compared with the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants database, which uses both official and media sources.
To examine the impact of Texas’ border infrastructure, we mapped nearly 250 miles of state and federal barriers—including fences, walls, containers, and floating buoys—using satellite imagery and official reports. Drowning locations were plotted with geographic coordinates and incident descriptions, enabling comparisons with changes in border enforcement, though statistical causation could not be confirmed due to data limits.
Personal Stories
Four-year-old Angelica was found clinging to her father’s body near Eagle Pass. Her family, originally from Venezuela, had fled political and economic turmoil, seeking safety in the U.S. Her father, mother, uncle, and 11-year-old brother, Santiago, all drowned in November 2023 while crossing the river. Angelica survived.
Carolina, 27, and her children Kylian, 3, and Noel, two months old, fled Nicaragua to join her husband in the U.S. In August 2022, both children drowned in a river section heavily patrolled by police and soldiers.
Border militarization is a binational effort. In 2022, as drowning deaths peaked, Mexico deployed over 11,500 Army and National Guard troops—double the 2019 levels. In Texas, Operation Lone Star has sent more than 10,000 National Guard members and police to the river since March 2021.
Experts warn that militarized migration has increased risks, especially for women and children. Jerónimo del Río García, researcher at the Foundation for Justice and the Democratic Rule of Law, said Mexico’s militarization has worsened human rights abuses, creating “a military logic of fighting the enemy.” He added, “While the armed forces do not directly cause drownings, their presence pushes migrants into more dangerous routes, indirectly contributing to deaths.”