:00:00. > 3:59:59of migrants found in the desert and return them to their families for
:00:00. > :00:17.burial. Be US`Mexico border. Every year,
:00:18. > :00:24.thousands of migrants try to cross illegally into the US in search of a
:00:25. > :00:28.better life. As US authorities tighten up border security, more and
:00:29. > :00:33.more migrants are risking their lives by crossing through remote
:00:34. > :00:40.desert regions. Many do not make it. In the past ten years, over 2000
:00:41. > :00:45.unidentified bodies have ended up at this morgue in Arizona alone. I
:00:46. > :00:52.think of it as the smell of death. It is the smell of our death. I will
:00:53. > :00:56.grant and in this our world, I meet or remarkable woman who has
:00:57. > :00:59.dedicated years of her life trying to identify the bodies of dead
:01:00. > :01:07.migrants and return them to their families. `` Our World.
:01:08. > :01:15.We need migrants preparing to make the illegal border crossing, despite
:01:16. > :01:46.the dangers of a long track in searing temperatures.
:01:47. > :01:57.Tucson, Arizona. Desert city just north of the border with Mexico, it
:01:58. > :02:00.has a unique and growing problem. The Pima County morgue has seen a
:02:01. > :02:06.huge increase in the number of bodies it has received over the past
:02:07. > :02:11.decade. So much so that Tucson now has the third`highest number of
:02:12. > :02:18.unidentified human remains in the United States, after New York and
:02:19. > :02:22.Los Angeles. Many are now just delete all remains. Almost all were
:02:23. > :02:27.migrants who have succumbed to heat, exhaustion, or dehydration in
:02:28. > :02:34.the desert. Here we have the right shoulder blade, a piece of the right
:02:35. > :02:40.clavicle. This is a probable male that was found in the desert in
:02:41. > :02:44.2013, from last year. The colour of the burn is white. That is because
:02:45. > :02:48.it has been on the surface of the desert and exposed to the sun. Also
:02:49. > :02:52.the drying up from being exposed to the sun causes the bone to fracture.
:02:53. > :02:59.If we look at this bone here, the left femur, we can see this fracture
:03:00. > :03:07.running through that. This doctor has a pathologist tag the body as
:03:08. > :03:13.John Doe or Django until the name is discovered. We have had 2300 main
:03:14. > :03:21.since 2001, people we believe to be migrants. We have identified 65%. We
:03:22. > :03:26.still had 800 ` 850 who are unidentified. If you contrast that
:03:27. > :03:30.to other mass fatality events like a plane crash, the identification rate
:03:31. > :03:34.usually goes up a lot but you then have a manifest of who should be on
:03:35. > :03:39.the aircraft and you just have to determine who is who. We do not have
:03:40. > :03:44.that here. Instead, the burden of identification has fallen upon Robin
:03:45. > :03:51.Meineke and her small team across the corridor. She arrived here as an
:03:52. > :03:59.anthropology student in 2006. I really came here to learn and I
:04:00. > :04:03.basically did not realise that I was walking into a mass disaster setting
:04:04. > :04:08.and saying, hey, can I study what you are doing and I was handed a
:04:09. > :04:13.stack of work. From there, it has been an incredible honour to take
:04:14. > :04:18.this on as my main job. Robin inherited a fledgeling programme
:04:19. > :04:21.which has now expanded into a non`profit human rights
:04:22. > :04:23.organisation. They painstakingly match missing `` missing person
:04:24. > :04:30.dated with the frantic records of bodies found in the desert. It has
:04:31. > :04:33.become a personal mission for Robin. I lost my father very suddenly and
:04:34. > :04:38.unexpectedly. That changed everything. I could recognise that
:04:39. > :04:46.the families were facing something that most people would not
:04:47. > :04:51.understand. I bring that point `` from that point, I began to pull
:04:52. > :04:55.myself into the work. That work is piling up. Each file represents a
:04:56. > :05:02.body that the team is trying to identify. This is a case from 2006,
:05:03. > :05:07.still unidentified. Sound June 20. We rely heavily on the frantic
:05:08. > :05:11.anthropology report. There is some information in here that, one day,
:05:12. > :05:15.if somebody comes forward looking for a family member, it made trigger
:05:16. > :05:22.memory that there is information in here which could be linked to that?
:05:23. > :05:29.Exactly. Some of the most poignant clues to identification other
:05:30. > :05:36.possessions found with the bodies. `` are the. There are three cards
:05:37. > :05:44.are there, thank on, Saint Benedict is, St Peter. A wooden rosary. Some
:05:45. > :05:48.US dollars. Of course, they were hoping to be able to use them in
:05:49. > :05:58.this country. It is quite pathetic little site, it is very simple,
:05:59. > :06:02.humble, handful of possessions. I spend a lot of time looking at the
:06:03. > :06:06.items. It is powerful. I know how powerful they can be for the
:06:07. > :06:10.investigation and to the family. We think of them as sacred items but on
:06:11. > :06:14.the other hand, you or I would not want to be defined by the things we
:06:15. > :06:21.happen to be carrying our pocket, the day we happened to pass away.
:06:22. > :06:29.Most of the bodies are found here, the Sonoran Desert. The hottest
:06:30. > :06:35.desert in North America, the summer temperatures can reach 50 Celsius.
:06:36. > :06:40.It is a vast area that stretches from the south`west of the US to the
:06:41. > :06:45.Mexican coast. For migrants crossing illegally into the US, they need to
:06:46. > :06:50.track for several days. If they get lost or injured or run out of
:06:51. > :06:54.supplies, the result is often fatal. Once you are outside in this
:06:55. > :06:57.wilderness, you begin to get a sense of the sheer number of factors you
:06:58. > :07:02.would have to contend with, trying to cross it. It is the hit`out here.
:07:03. > :07:06.The spiders and rattlesnakes we are told are raw round us, and of course
:07:07. > :07:09.you would need enough food and water to get through. It does not surprise
:07:10. > :07:10.me that a vast number of people run into trouble somewhere along the
:07:11. > :07:20.line. The Mexican side of the border are
:07:21. > :07:25.small groups of migrants, including women and young children, huddled in
:07:26. > :07:31.makeshift shelters. They have often pay thousands of dollars to criminal
:07:32. > :07:34.gangs to reach this point but the hardest part lies ahead. Here, they
:07:35. > :07:41.must wait for their guides to lead them across the desert.
:07:42. > :07:49.That this is where so many of the migrants' dreams end. In the
:07:50. > :07:54.summer, unfortunately, when so many people are dying in the desert, this
:07:55. > :08:00.would be completely. Oftentimes, we have to use an overflow cooler to
:08:01. > :08:04.save the remains. This place has quite a smelter would. These people
:08:05. > :08:08.have been preserved and capped so that somewhere along the line,
:08:09. > :08:13.families could receive these remains and dignify them with burials?
:08:14. > :08:15.Exactly. The smell is still hard to me. I think of it as the smell of
:08:16. > :08:27.death, of bad debt. `` death. Illegal immigration is an immensely
:08:28. > :08:31.sensitive political issue in the United States. An estimated 12
:08:32. > :08:37.million people currently live in the US without the proper paperwork.
:08:38. > :08:42.Around 8 million of those are from Mexico alone. Since the mid`19 90s,
:08:43. > :08:46.consecutive US governments have poured billions of dollars into
:08:47. > :08:54.border Security, a move popular with many voters. The fence erected by
:08:55. > :08:58.the United States has been extended and strengthened. Critics say that
:08:59. > :09:04.this is one of the main reason is that so many migrants are now dying.
:09:05. > :09:07.The border in urban areas has become almost impenetrable and it is, they
:09:08. > :09:16.say, has pushed migrants to cross the fence in less secure debt ``
:09:17. > :09:19.desert regions. It was not a dangerous place for migrants until
:09:20. > :09:23.the border policies and shifted. This office, there were an average
:09:24. > :09:28.of 12 bodies found per year believed to be migrants before the year 2000.
:09:29. > :09:37.From 2001, the average goes up to 165. So what changed their was a
:09:38. > :09:42.massive influx border patrol and military infrastructure.
:09:43. > :09:52.The US border patrol has one of the biggest budgets of any federal
:09:53. > :09:57.agency. They had over 20,000 agents patrolling the Mexican border and
:09:58. > :10:04.are equipped with the latest surveillance technology. Their
:10:05. > :10:10.mission is simple. Our role is somewhat 1`dimensional in that the
:10:11. > :10:13.only thing we do is stop people from coming through between point of
:10:14. > :10:19.entry. It does not matter if you have a Visa or not, you have to
:10:20. > :10:23.present yourself for inspection. The agency rejects suggestions that the
:10:24. > :10:26.militarisation of the border has caused migrants' deaths. They argue
:10:27. > :10:31.that the blame lies with Mexican organised crime. Unfortunately for
:10:32. > :10:35.those crossing illegally, they are in the hands of criminal
:10:36. > :10:41.organisations who have no regard for human life. They will do anything
:10:42. > :10:46.they can to essentially extort these people and to get as much money as
:10:47. > :10:49.they can offer these people. Women that are out in this environment are
:10:50. > :10:54.facing being raped. Everyone who is out here is looking at death right
:10:55. > :10:58.in the eye, whether at the hands of somebody who might rob them of the
:10:59. > :11:03.worst against them or just being out in this hostile environment. There
:11:04. > :11:07.is very little water. It is tough to survive out here even if you are
:11:08. > :11:16.well`equipped which most of these people are not.
:11:17. > :11:22.At night, most people try to cross. Not only migrant are they after.
:11:23. > :11:29.Stopping the illegal drug trade is also part of their work. We
:11:30. > :11:32.understand there is someone in this area who is believed to have been
:11:33. > :11:51.trying to take marijuana across the border. The border patrol is trying
:11:52. > :11:56.to chase down one of the 2`man team. `` patroller. Within the space of
:11:57. > :12:01.barely two Alice, they have picked up a group of suspected drug
:12:02. > :12:05.traffickers with them marijuana and separately, a group of would`be
:12:06. > :12:08.migrants who had hopped over the fence and they pick them up almost
:12:09. > :12:20.as soon as they hit United States soil `` hours. So far, it has been a
:12:21. > :12:27.successful evening for them. It is the border patrol who also find most
:12:28. > :12:31.of the migrant s' bodies. With the high number of deaths, there are
:12:32. > :12:35.thousands in Mexico and Central America who have been affected. I
:12:36. > :12:53.travelled south to Mexico to meet one of them. I am driving into an
:12:54. > :12:57.area called Beautiful Village, although in many ways it is anything
:12:58. > :13:12.but. We are going to meet the mother of a 19`year`old immigrant who lost
:13:13. > :13:15.his life in the desert in Arizona. Carolyn Chan is a full`time mother
:13:16. > :13:22.with a passion for songwriting and music. She runs a happy, chaotic
:13:23. > :13:26.home full of children and grandchildren. One person is missing
:13:27. > :13:52.from this scene, her son, Marco Antonio.
:13:53. > :14:01.One day, in July 2012, he disappeared without saying goodbye.
:14:02. > :14:05.Carolyna desperately began searching for him. Then she heard one of his
:14:06. > :14:34.friends who left with him was back in town. She went to talk to him.
:14:35. > :14:44.Marco had been with a group in the desert, but was left behind when he
:14:45. > :14:51.could not keep up with them. Undeterred by this news, Carolina
:14:52. > :14:54.continued her search, checking missing persons website, contacting
:14:55. > :15:01.migrant shelters. Eventually, her determination led her here to the
:15:02. > :15:08.team in Tucson. They added Marco's details to their database.
:15:09. > :15:13.Initially, there was no match. But, six months after he disappeared,
:15:14. > :15:49.Carolina received an e`mail. There was a potential new lead.
:15:50. > :15:54.That e`mail contained a photo of a pair of trousers found on a body
:15:55. > :16:01.that seemed to match information that Carolina had supplied. Shortly
:16:02. > :16:05.before Marco crossed, his father had loaned him a pair of camouflage
:16:06. > :16:10.pants for the journey. His father is a little bit bigger and so he
:16:11. > :16:15.removed a button and adjusted the pants so that they could be a little
:16:16. > :16:23.bit tighter for Marco. That was the key identifying feature for the
:16:24. > :16:26.mother ? That is what convinced her. She insisted on DNA testing to prove
:16:27. > :16:53.it was indeed Marco Antonio's body. Although Carolina and Robert have
:16:54. > :16:56.never met, families such as Carolina's are often extremely
:16:57. > :17:03.grateful for what Robin does. It breaks my heart how intensely they
:17:04. > :17:10.would be suffering. When they are informed of a death, they feel
:17:11. > :17:11.thankful `` Robyn. I can't imagine being thankful to the person who
:17:12. > :17:28.told me that my father died. Here, a small, dusty Mexican border
:17:29. > :17:33.town on the edge of the desert. It is thought to be where Marco Antonio
:17:34. > :17:40.set out on his journey to the United States. As plenty of others do. The
:17:41. > :17:44.whole town revolves around the legal border trade and dozens of shops
:17:45. > :17:48.cater to migrant needs. Crossing the desert into the north is no small
:17:49. > :17:54.undertaking and any would`be migrant would need certain key survival
:17:55. > :17:58.things. Certainly a hat, to protect from the sun. Of course,
:17:59. > :18:05.camouflage, to also hide you from the US border patrol. Some vital
:18:06. > :18:09.first aid and toiletries and then, most extraordinarily, something I
:18:10. > :18:15.have never seen before, carpet slippers. You slip fees over your
:18:16. > :18:24.shoes and when you walk, he leaves no footprints in the sand. `` you
:18:25. > :18:28.leave. Before setting off on the treacherous journey, many migrants
:18:29. > :18:34.come to the church to ask the virgin of Guadeloupe eight, the patron
:18:35. > :18:39.saint of Mexico for protection in the desert. Some would need more
:18:40. > :18:44.than just that to make it to the United States. In our plan, waiting
:18:45. > :18:52.a loan to be taken to the board itself, I found this 15`year`old
:18:53. > :18:58.from Guatemala `` a van. He showed me what he was taking. A blanket and
:18:59. > :19:02.carpet slippers to get through. Somehow, this collection of items
:19:03. > :19:03.was supposed to get him across the desert. It is tragic and
:19:04. > :19:30.heartbreaking. I have seen the part of Guatemala
:19:31. > :19:41.where he is from and it is extremely, extremely poor. It is
:19:42. > :19:45.very rural. It is a very tough life. Waiting in a hostel for homeowner to
:19:46. > :19:51.cross is this woman. She broke her leg on her last attempt to enter the
:19:52. > :19:54.US. That will not deter her. She spent many years in the United
:19:55. > :20:00.States. Her children were born there and she is desperate to return.
:20:01. > :20:13.Do you feel frightened about going through the desert and everything
:20:14. > :20:57.involved with that? For Carolina, that journey has only
:20:58. > :21:08.brought sadness to her family. She has written a song especially for
:21:09. > :21:09.her son, Marco Antonio, called, I am going to ask God for five more
:21:10. > :21:36.minutes. She has at least been able to give
:21:37. > :21:41.her son a decent burial thanks to Robyn's efforts. Her advice to
:21:42. > :21:51.others thinking of making the same journey, is blunt.
:21:52. > :21:59.I think it is a beautiful desert. But, it is also a very tragic
:22:00. > :22:03.landscape. White Robyn and her team have helped to return hundreds of
:22:04. > :22:09.migrant bodies like Marco Antonio to their families `` Robyn. She is
:22:10. > :22:13.determined that their work affects a wider change. The number one thing
:22:14. > :22:21.is thinking a bout of the border more humanely . Human life needs to
:22:22. > :22:24.be part of the discussion. Human lives can be spared if people
:22:25. > :22:31.wanting to come and work did not have to walk through the desert ``
:22:32. > :22:34.about. No matter what one thinks of the rights and wrongs of entering
:22:35. > :22:39.the United States illegally, few would want to see so many deaths in
:22:40. > :22:44.the process. The irresistible little of a better life sits just across
:22:45. > :22:49.the border. For many, the temptation will be to great `` lure. `` too
:22:50. > :23:23.great. Hello. After a night with further
:23:24. > :23:28.torrential downpours and gusty wind, hail and flashes of lightning,
:23:29. > :23:31.the pattern will likely continue throughout the day on Saturday. We
:23:32. > :23:32.begin on a warm note