New Mexico
A deadly detour: Migrant deaths spike outside El Paso
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. — In each of the last two summers, Laura Mae Williams, who recovers bodies for the New Mexico Medical Investigator’s Office, has had to visit the U.S.-Mexico borderlands multiple times a week.
“It’s not uncommon for me to come down for one body that’s been found, and then Border Patrol finds another one or maybe even two additional ones in different locations,” Williams said.
It used to be rare for migrants to die after having crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in the desert just west of El Paso, Texas, over the state line. The Medical Investigator’s Office, part of the University of New Mexico Health System, used to recover only a handful of bodies a year. But this year so far, the office has recovered 121 such sets of remains, breaking last year’s record of 116. It’s more than a thirteenfold increase from five years ago.
Unlike the vast, remote deserts of Arizona, where migrants have died in significant numbers for years, the area experiencing this spike in deaths is relatively small, hemmed in by highways and the western exurbs of El Paso.
In many cases, people have died within a few yards of suburban subdivisions and paved roads.
Most of the deaths are heat-related. Although it is a relatively small stretch of desert, it routinely reaches temperatures well into the triple digits in summer, with sand temperatures at times reaching 150 degrees.
“In those extreme conditions, even if you’re well-hydrated and well-fed, it’s going to wear on the body,” Williams said. And in many cases, people who have migrated are not well-hydrated or well-fed, having spent days in smugglers’ safe houses in poor conditions.
First responders, elected officials and advocates in New Mexico attribute the spike in deaths largely to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, which hardened the border in El Paso’s urban core and prompted smugglers to attempt routes west of the city in New Mexico.
Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, blamed the deaths on the federal government. “Operation Lone Star helps deter illegal crossings, redirecting migrants to use one of the 29 international bridges on the Texas-Mexico border where they can safely and legally cross,” Mahaleris told NBC News in a statement.
The deaths fit a historical pattern. Migrants often begin dying in greater numbers after enforcement efforts push smuggling routes outside urban areas and into more remote and dangerous crossings.
Officials, including the New Mexico Medical Investigator’s Office, also blame smugglers for the deaths, noting that in many cases they abandon people who fall behind — but only after they take their phones.
“It raises an important question,” said Dr. Heather Jarrell, the chief medical examiner at the Medical Investigator’s Office, whose office marks the deaths as accidental. “If you leave a person in the middle of the desert to die, why is this not homicide by neglect?”
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) — The Social Security Office released the most popular baby names for 2025 on Thursday. And here in New Mexico, we saw some familiar names top the charts once again.
Coming in at No. 1 for girls is Mia, and as for the boys, Noah ranks No. 1. That’s no change from 2024 when Mia and Noah also led the pack, both coming in at No 1. For 2025, there were a total of 66 babies named Mia and 115 babies named Noah, while in 2024, there were 81 Mias and 105 Noahs.
What do the names mean? Online sources list a few different interpretations for Mia, but one common association is with the Italian word “mia,” which means “mine.” As for Noah, the name is most commonly associated with the prominent bible figure. It’s thought to mean “rest,” or “comfort.”
Here’s a look at some of the other top baby names in New Mexico for 2025.
- Girls:
- Olivia (65 total)
- Sophia (65 total)
- Sofia (60 total)
- Camila (59 total)
- Eliana (57 total)
- Isabella (56 total)
- Amelia (53 total)
- Aria (45 total)
- Aurora (45 total)
- Boys:
- Liam (109 total)
- Mateo (99 total)
- Elijah (76 total)
- Santiago (70 total)
- Sebastian (69 total)
- Ezra (67 total)
- Elias (66 total)
- Ezekiel (66 total)
- Levi (69 total)
Nationally, Olivia and Liam are the most popular baby names, and have been for the past seven years, according to the Social Security Administration. As for the fastest-rising names, Klarity jumped nearly 1,400 spots on the girls’ list, and Kasai jumped 1,108 for boy names.
Other names rising in popularity for boys include Atlas, Adriel, Emiliano, Arthur, and Archer. On the girls’ list, Ailany, Sienna, Amara, and Georgia are becoming more popular.
You can find the full list by state online.
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — An ‘imposter nurse’ in Las Cruces is facing 34 charges after nearly causing the death of a patient and illegally giving medications to patients under 18 years old.
A Doña Ana County grand jury indicted Margarita Gonzalez. She is accused of assuming the identities of nurses in Texas to get hired at four nursing facilities in Las Cruces:
- Village at Northrise
- Las Cruces Wellness and Rehabilitation
- Peak Behavioral Health
- Matrix Home Care
The New Mexico Department of Justice’s Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Bureau investigated and discovered instances where Gonzalez illegally gave injections and dispensed prescriptions, including narcotics to eight inpatient residents under 18 years old.
An investigation also found Gonzalez was also about to allegedly give “an incorrect insulin dose” to a patient that they claim could’ve killed the patient if another nurse hadn’t caught the error.
Several facilities fired Gonzalez over patient safety concerns and an observed lack of knowledge.
“Impersonating a healthcare provider is a reckless and selfish crime that subjects those most vulnerable to risk of serious injury or death,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said. “I will not tolerate those who risk the safety of patients or cause danger and unnecessary confusion within the healthcare system. These charges should keep anyone attempting to pose as a healthcare provider on notice: we will find you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law to protect New Mexicans.”
Gonzalez’s charges include identity theft, nursing without a license, abuse of a resident, distribution of controlled substances to a minor and fraud totaling over $25,000.
If convicted on all counts, Gonzalez could face up to 100 years in prison.
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