At Arizona's border morgue, bodies keep coming - Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29

At Arizona's border morgue, bodies keep coming

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  • Immigration

  • The immigration debate in Arizona reached a boiling point in 2007 when the state passed a groundbreaking law targeting those often blamed with fueling the nation's border woes: Employers...
    The immigration debate in Arizona reached a boiling point in 2007 when the state passed a groundbreaking law targeting those often blamed with fueling the nation's border woes: Employers who hire immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
  • A judge has refused to halt Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's policy denying driver's licenses for young immigrants who received work permits and avoided deportation under an Obama administration policy.
    A judge has refused to halt Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's policy denying driver's licenses for young immigrants who received work permits and avoided deportation under an Obama administration policy.
  • Senators working on a bipartisan immigration bill have defeated an effort to speed up a new workplace identity verification system.
    A bipartisan group of House members announced a deal Thursday on sweeping immigration legislation, a breakthrough that could boost chances for one of President Barack Obama's top second-term priorities.

By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - The body of Ildefonso Martinez arrived on a Friday night last April as John Doe. For examiners at the Pima County morgue, his was an unusual case. Not in how he died - making the same journey that has claimed thousands of illegal immigrants - but rather because he was identified so quickly.

The death of migrants crossing the border has long been a tragic consequence of illegal immigration. For some, it is also a motivator in pushing Congress to act this year on immigration reform.

In the last 15 years, at least 5,513 migrants have been found dead along the U.S.-Mexico border, including 463 in fiscal year 2012, the Border Patrol reports.

The Tucson sector located 177 bodies in 2012, including that of Martinez.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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