S.

Each year some attempt the arduous journey across the desert of Southern Arizona Last year.

At least 211 did not survive.

There remains come here the pima county morgue in Tucson.

Some are identified and repatriated.

But every year some go unnamed and unclaimed, they join a growing list of the unknown.

Dr.

Greg Hess is the chief medical examiner in our facility right now.

We probably have about 100 people that are unidentified that we suspect to fall into this group undocumented border crossers.

If we're looking at it since we've been keeping track, which is the year 2000 we've had almost 3500 remains come in that we've investigated and about 1000 to 1200 of those are unidentified.

This is 2022 2021 And some from 2018 to 19.

These lockers store whatever effects they find with the deceased.

Sometimes it's barely anything at all.

Here, for example, is just this pocket knife and that's all we have.

This particular individual.

Others are found with documents, ID cards, marriage certificates.

But that doesn't always tell investigators who they are.

Um It doesn't mean that it's them.

So people have incentives sometimes to travel using an alias and it's not uncommon that we'll find what appears to be some type of false documentation.

But these clues are all they have to go on.

Um Here's exactly what I was talking about.

We have a mexican identification card.

You know with a photo with some information about this person.

Um And so, and you know, this is just an empty wallet.

Um some foreign currency, some miscellaneous documents.

But this is this is great because it will get us started.

But we clearly haven't been able to prove that the remains we found with this property or this person yet.

Okay.

Reuters visited the Pima County morgue amid renewed focus on the southern border.

After two years.

A pandemic health protocol called Title 42 is set to expire.

That rule allowed the government to immediately deport illegal border crossers, many of them families seeking asylum and fleeing crime or economic hardship.

Many of them intentionally surrendered to U.

S.

Border Patrol.

Now the biden administration appears ready to let title 42 laps.

But republican state governors have sued to keep it in place.

Warning that ending Title 42 could incentivize even more illegal border crossings for dr Hess.

It's unclear whether lifting the protocol might impact what he sees in Pima County.

I don't know because the group of people that we find that our deceased are They're not family groups seeking asylum.

It is usually males in their 20s and 30s, full camouflage over clothing carpeted shoe covers.

So that that demographic may not change necessarily in regards to title 42 Hess may not know if a change will mean more bodies found in the desert, but those that are found and aren't claimed can end up here.

The Pima County Cemetery, amid the cacti and the headstones.

Behind these colorfully painted tiles, the ashes of the unknown are interred.

DNA is collected prior to cremation in hopes it May one day help put a name to these nameless.