Border death

Border deaths or migrant deaths are deaths that occur during, or afterward as a result of, illegal migration. Although more narrow definitions rely on the physical borders of the state, scholars write that migration policies have broad impacts that extend far beyond these borders as a result of externalization. Consequently, many scholars include deaths in transit countries, or after a person's deportation, and could even include people who die because they are not able to leave their home countries.

Using the narrower definition, the International Organization for Migration has documented at least 63,000 deaths in the decade between 2014 and 2020. The deadliest border region in this time period was the Mediterranean Sea, which accounted for 70 percent of IOM-recorded deaths between 2014 and 2020. The deadliest land border has been the United States–Mexico border. Border deaths are significantly undercounted because many migrants' deaths go unnoticed.

Although typically recorded as natural causes, researchers have identified border deaths as a policy choice resulting from the drivers of migration, a lack of legal pathways, enforcement strategies, and actions by the authorities that endanger migrants' lives.