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U.S. NEWS Thursday 7 January 2021
Arizona border deaths hit 10-year high after record heat

PHOENIX (AP) — A project they believe the summer's
that maps the bodies of record heat and dry weath-
border-crossers recovered er were the main causes of
from Arizona's inhospitable the unprecedented num-
deserts, valleys and moun- ber of deaths in 2020.
tains said it documented The National Weather Ser-
227 deaths in 2020, the vice in Phoenix says the
highest in a decade after average high temperature
the hottest, driest summer was nearly 110 degrees
in state history. (43 degrees Celsius) in July
The previous annual high and nearly 111 in August,
mapped by the Pima helping make it the hottest
County Medical Examiner's summer in history. Phoenix's
Office in Tucson and the highs tend to be similar to
nonprofit Humane Borders those in Arizona's Sonoran
was 224 migrant deaths in Desert north of Mexico,
2010. forecasters say.
Enforcement efforts in Cali- The weather service said
fornia and Texas over the July and August also were
years have pushed mi- the state's driest summer
grants into dangerous ter- months on record.
rain in Arizona without easy While many remains recov-
access to food and wa- ered last year were weath-
ter. Humanitarian groups In this Aug. 22, 2019, file photo, U.S. Customs and Patrol agents sit along a section of the interna- ered, partial skeletons that
like No More Deaths leave tional border wall that runs through Organ Pipe National Monument in Lukeville, Ariz. indicated older deaths,
water jugs and other pro- Associated Press there were considerably
visions in remote parts of more recent deaths in 2020
southern Arizona in hopes There were 131,759 mi- to try to cross the U.S.-Mex- terly magazine. "President- than in previous years, said
of saving lives in a region grants apprehended be- ico border this year follow- elect Joe Biden has prom- Dr. Bruce Anderson, foren-
where nearly 3,400 migrant tween Oct. 1, 2018, and ing a pair of disastrous hur- ised to do things differently, sic anthropologist with the
deaths have been docu- Sept. 30, 2019, in the Bor- ricanes in Central America treating migrants and asy- Pima County medical ex-
mented since 2004. der Patrol's Yuma and Tuc- and with a Joe Biden ad- lum-seekers with dignity." aminer's office.
Despite the increase in son sectors, which cover ministration after four years Selee warned that sudden Some officials and activists
deaths, U.S. Border Patrol the entire Arizona border, of hardline policies under policy changes could en- working near the Arizona
apprehension figures sug- compared with more than President Donald Trump. courage would-be border- border, including recently
gest that the number of 248,624 in the same 12 "Heading north will contin- crossers to flood north. retired Santa Cruz County
migrants crossing the U.S.- months from 2008 to 2009. ue to be seen as an option," Dr. Greg Hess, Pima Coun- Sheriff Tony Estrada, have
Mexico border illegally in Immigration scholars say Andrew Selee, president of ty's medical examiner, and said they believe bor-
Arizona has actually fall- they expect a wave of the nonpartisan Migration Michael Kreyche, mapping der wall construction also
en by almost 50% over 10 people from Guatemala, Policy Institute, wrote in No- project coordinator with pushed migrants into riskier
years. Honduras and El Salvador vember in Americas Quar- Humane Borders, have said places to avoid workers. q

Romney heckled in airport in another show of GOP divisions

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST being contested by some as a "disgusting shame"
Associated Press GOP lawmakers, but the ef- gained widespread atten-
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Sup- fort is all but certain to fail. tion online and was fol-
porters of President Donald Romney, the 2012 GOP lowed by another clip of
Trump heckled Republican presidential nominee, has people chanting "traitor" at
U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of a deep well of popularity in him on the plane.
Utah in an airport, illustrat- Utah, but a significant slice His counterpart, Sen. Mike
ing divisions in the Republi- of the conservative state's Lee, is a staunch Trump
can Party between Trump electorate is angry with him supporter but called for ci-
loyalists and those ready for criticizing Trump, said vility after the video made
to accept the results of the Damon Cann, a political the rounds.
presidential election. science professor at Utah "Harassing your political op-
Romney has been consid- State University. ponents on a plane is not
ered Trump's sharpest GOP The confrontation "shows acceptable," he said in a
critic and is among a group how deeply divided we tweet.
of senators who called for are, not only as a country Trump, however, refer- Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and others watch as a joint session of
an end to an effort to over- but how deeply divided enced the incident as he the House and Senate convenes to confirm the Electoral Col-
lege votes cast in November's election, at the Capitol in Wash-
turn President-elect Joe Republicans are," Cann took a dig at Romney dur- ington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021.
Biden's win. Video of the said. Going forward, "Re- ing a rally Wednesday, say- Associated Press
airport confrontation post- publicans need to find out ing, "I wonder if he enjoyed
ed online Tuesday night who the person is who can his flight in last night." He did not soften his own cy."
came as Trump backers pull the party together." Romney shrugged off the rhetoric on Trump, saying Romney won't face anoth-
around the U.S. traveled Video of a woman walk- airport confrontation in the president "disrespected er election for nearly four
to Washington, D.C., for ing up to Romney as he comments to reporters the American voters, has more years, but he'll likely
demonstrations as Con- worked on a computer in Wednesday, calling it "the dishonored the election still feel political repercus-
gress meets to accept the the Salt Lake City airport nature of politics, unfortu- system and has disgraced sions in the form of a prima-
Electoral College vote. It's and later referring to him nately." the office of the presiden- ry challenger, Cann said.q