Retired Catholic priest Arturo Bañuelas leaned into the microphone as he urged county commissioners to do something about the growing crisis of migrants dying in the desert just miles from the courthouse where he stood.
“These deaths are occurring right here,” Bañuelas said, wearing his white clerical collar under a black shirt and jacket during a January commission meeting. “Close to our homes, churches and community. We cannot turn away.”
El Paso was the most deadly sector of the U.S.-Mexico border in 2024. And it’s not just migrants who are succumbing to extreme heat. Temperatures are rising faster in El Paso than in almost any other U.S. city. And a record 39 deaths were attributed directly or indirectly to heat in El Paso County during 2024…