According to Border Patrol data and a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, a record number of migrants are dying at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The bodies of over 890 migrants were recovered by U.S. authorities along the border in FY (fiscal year) 2022 — a record number and a 58% increase over FY 21,” U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) wrote in a March 21 tweet. “There is a humanitarian crisis at our border. We must equip our CBP (Customs and Border Protection) agents with resources to secure our border and save lives on both sides.”

According to U.S. officials, there were 890 recorded deaths of migrants during the 2022 fiscal year. This is a 58% increase over the 2021 fiscal year. Many died in the fast-moving waters of the Rio Grande River, by falling off the cliffs in the rugged southern terrain or by dehydration.

Those involved say that the riskier paths into the U.S. are due in part to the Title 42 restrictions (rules created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic), which allow Border Patrol agents to expel migrants quicker. U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested over 2.2 million people along the border in 2022, which is also up from the 1.65 million arrests in 2021.

According to NPR News, immigration authorities have also placed the blame on criminal organizations, such as Mexican drug cartels, which smuggle migrants over the border. Many migrants are also dying in the poor crossing conditions set by these organizations, dying of dehydration and heat in crowded transportation vehicles.

The number of migrants deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border has risen for two years in a row, as the 560 deaths recorded in fiscal year 2021 was the record at the time, only to be broken in 2022. The number of rescues by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and agents also rose to more than 20,000 in 2022.

Before 2021, the previous high for the number of migrant deaths along the border was 492 in 2005, reported to CBS News.