The Migrant Mortality Mapping Portal Project (M3P2) aims to create a publicly accessible website that documents and maps migrant deaths along the United States–Mexico border, and currently includes mappable migrant mortality data for the period 1981– 2023. 

The M3P2 web portal was developed to raise awareness of a humanitarian tragedy whose scale remains largely unknown, both in the United States and around the world. We hope to encourage researchers, policymakers, humanitarian organizations, educators, journalists, and the public to explore the data, ask questions, and use the information to inform research, education, and public discussion. We also hope to support research that contributes to policies and initiatives aimed at improving the safety, health, and well-being of migrants. The data we collected may also provide new insights into changes in migration patterns over time and the evolution of migration routes. 

Above all, we hope the platform serves as a memorial to those who lost their lives while attempting to cross the border. For families searching for missing loved ones, we hope it offers both the possibility of identifying an unidentified individual and a pathway toward restoring their identity and, when possible, facilitating their return to their families.

The website is made available in both English and Spanish. Updates are planned for 2027 and beyond. If you wish to contribute data, suggest edits to the existing dataset, or simply stay in touch, please email us at m3p2_web@txstate.edu.

 

Project participants

  • Principal Investigator (PI):  Alberto Giordano (PI), Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Texas State University
  • Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI):  Nicholas Herrmann, Professor, Department of Anthropology, Texas State University

Senior Personnel:

  • Rachel Daniell, Pratt Institute School of Information, Visiting Assistant Professor
  • Heather Edgar, Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, and Forensic Anthropologist, Office of the Medical Investigator, University of New Mexico
  • Molly Miranker, Independent researcher
  • Kate Spradley, Professor, Department of Anthropology, Texas State University

Consultants:

  • Sam Chambers, Assistant Research Scientist, Arizona State University

Funded Graduate and Undergraduate students:

  • At Texas State University: Veronica Flores-Guillen, Diane Nunez, Ivanna Robledo, Molly Kaplan, Courtney Beth Siegert. 
  • At the University of New Mexico: Jasmine Hernandez

Technical Partners: 

  • GreenInfo Network (https://greeninfo.org). Special thanks to Stephen Smith, Tim Sinnott, Tom Allnutt, and Maria Lamadrid. 

 

Acknowledgments

The Migrant Mortality Mapping Portal Project (M3P2) was funded by the National Science Foundation’s Human Networks and Data Science Infrastructure (HNDS-I) Program under Award No. 2218776, with additional support from the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Texas State University.

Over the course of the project, we have benefited greatly from valuable conversations at academic conferences, professional meetings, and other formal and informal exchanges with journalists, advocates, members of humanitarian organizations, and many other individuals whose expertise and perspectives have informed this work. We especially wish to acknowledge Molly Kaplan (Texas State University), Mike Kreyche (Humane Borders), Marni La Fleur (University of San Diego), Stephanie Leutert (The University of Texas at Austin), Daniel Martínez (University of Arizona), Robin Reineke (University of Arizona), Gabriella Soto (Arizona State University), and Caitlin Vogelsberg (Pima County).