The majority of migrant deaths occur in Arizona's Sonoran desert, with 213 confirmed to have died in the Tucson sector alone in fiscal year 2009.

Due to Congressional restrictions against the funding of permanent checkpoints in the Tucson sector, all of its checkpoints are tactical checkpoints.

Last year most of the 134 deaths in the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, one of eight sectors along the Mexican border, occurred here.

Three years ago, the Tucson sector, which is almost exclusively desert, ranked seventh among the nine border patrol sectors in percentage of all migrant deaths.

According to the Border Patrol, there were 272,397 arrests of people crossing through the Tucson sector in 1997.

And the Tucson sector was one of the top two sectors for migrant deaths, tied with El Centro, just east of San Diego.

"We have had successes," said Kevin L. Stevens, the assistant patrol chief in the Tucson sector.

The only objective indicator is the number of arrests, which hit 491,771 in 2004 for just the 261 miles of border that make up the Tucson sector.

In the Tucson sector, about 440 a month are picked up with records of burglary, assault or narcotics charges.

Still, 617,000 were caught last year in the Tucson sector, which covers much of southern Arizona.