HNDS-I: Migrant Mortality Mapping Portal Project (M3P2)

Texas State University - San Marcos, San Marcos TX

Investigators

Abstract

Since 1980 an unknown number of migrants, ranging from thousands to tens of thousands, have died trying to enter the United States along the US-Mexico border. Despite the size of this tragedy, there is no central database on migrant deaths. As a consequence, national authorities, policymakers, and public health officials not only do not know how many people are dying, but also do not know how federal, state, and local policies impact migrant mortality. This award funds the creation of the Migrant Mortality Mapping Portal Project (M3P2), a website to document, count and map migrant deaths. The project has two parts. The first part is the collection and organization of a large amount of data on migrant deaths along the US-Mexico border from various sources, ranging from law enforcement reports to newspaper articles. The second part is the development of a public-facing website through which these data can be downloaded and explored. The M3P2 website includes tools for exploring the data that can be used by anyone who wants to study the phenomenon of migrant deaths at the US-Mexico border. The website not only makes it easier to count migrant deaths but also makes possible research on topics related to forensics, social and behavioral sciences, public health, geography, and geographic information science. It will also help design better policies, improve public health, make search and recovery easier, and help reunite families with their loved ones’ remains. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.