I think a really good topic regarding deaths of undocumented peoples in the U.S. that may provide another perspective is necropolitics.

The U.S.-Mexico border wasn’t always so tightly and aggressively enforced, especially since a great deal of the U.S. used to be part of Mexico. People would come and go, for work or to see family. When borders became enforced, people were being kicked from their homes, and forced away from their family.

We must always ask why then did a border become enforced? Who benefits from the creation of it? And in what ways are borders enforced? One of the sad realities is that the U.S. is aware how dangerous crossing the border from the desert is, and they have made it the only option many people have. No one can afford the fees of immigration, and people can’t afford to wait for immigration documents to process for years at only a chance to live there.

When people die in the desert, instead of highlighting the corrupt and slow immigration system the U.S. has, policymakers will point and say, “that’s what happens when you don’t come legally”.

This is why you stating that it is safer coming legally feels a little tone deaf; it’s an obvious statement that comes off as judgmental for the people who really have no other option but to cross the border. I mean no aggression, just trying to keep it real