Human smugglers use deadly heat to sneak migrants into US

Human smugglers have been taking advantage of record heat at the southern border to sneak migrants into the US, believing that there will be fewer border officers to stop them, according to officials.

There have been a record number of dead migrants recovered at the border as temperatures soared above 100 degrees for 36 consecutive days, the US Border Patrol said.

“We are currently recording a significant number of migrant deaths in New Mexico due to the desert terrain and extreme heat,” the agency told the Border Report.

In the summer, smugglers at the border normally avoid the hottest hours of the day to move illegal immigrants into the US as conditions are considered too dangerous — and opt instead to cross in the cover of night when temperatures are more bearable, law enforcement sources tell The Post.

“We are seeing a lot of people crossing during the hottest part of the day, which is something we normally had not seen before,” Buckert explained.

“That ends up being a very dangerous thing.”

So far, 69 bodies have been recovered from the desert west of Texas’ sixth-largest city this fiscal year. The Border Patrol suspects the remains are migrants who died of heat exhaustion.

“One time the paramedics got there, and the temperature was still 107,” Border Patrol Agent Andy Buckert, told the Border Report of the migrant’s internal body temperature.

“One time the temperature was so high they couldn’t get a reading.”

Across the entire southern border, 96 bodies have been recovered since October. The number of dead this year far outpaces the 29 bodies discovered in 2022.

As deaths and temperatures soar, immigration officials blame money-hungry cartels, who often underplay the dangers of crossing the border to desperate migrants.

“What we are finding is they have been held in stash houses on the Mexican side; they don’t get enough water; they don’t get enough food,” Buckert revealed.

“When they cross the border they are already ‘gassed out.’ They don’t have the energy to run and the smuggler is telling them, ‘Run! Run! The highway is not that far.’ They end up losing their (bearings), they get separated from the group, they end up overheating and dying in situations like that.”

Deaths might be higher, if not for the aid and rescues provided by border agents — numbering 330 this year.

Rescue beacons have also been installed in this area of the border where migrants needing help can call Border Patrol by simply pushing a button.