Border securityRise in the number of border-crossers dying along the U.S.-Mexico border

While fewer people are crossing the border between Mexico and the United States, the region saw a significant spike in immigrant deaths last year, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The report  was conducted by the National Foundation for American Policy, a group which researches immigration issues. The report says that the U.S. Border Patrol identified 477 deaths along the border, a 27 percent increase from the 375 deaths in 2012.

USA Todaynotes that the report says a reason for the ride in deaths is  an increase in the number of Border Patrol agents, which has forced immigrants to move to more remote and dangerous areas along the border.

Geoff Boyce, a spokesman for No More Deaths, an Arizona volunteer organization said that the journey across the border is difficult due to the extreme weather along the border which includes 110-degree days in the summer and below freezing nights in the winter and lack of drinkable water.

Boyce said it can take between three and four days to make the journey, but over a week if a group gets lost or if someone takes ill. Boyce’s group told USA Today that they place up to 4,000 gallons of water along known immigration routes every month.

“Even the healthiest person is going to have a hard time surviving in those kinds of conditions,” Boyce told USA Today.

Adam Isacson, asenior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the rise in deaths is a result of more people from Central America making the journey to the U.S.

Stuart Anderson, the executive director of the foundation and author of the report, told USA Today that the increase in deaths could support the push for an immigration reform that is currently being debated in Congress.

“The primary reason that people are dying is that there’s not a legal work visa for them to come legally,” Anderson said. “These are rational people who are trying to work and support their families. If you had a widely available, legal work visa … they would choose to come in legally.”

Bill Brooks, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman, said in addition to the increase in the number of deaths, there was also a 25 percent increase in people being rescued along the border last year. According to Brooks, more than 900 Border Patrol agents have received emergency medical training in order to help people they find.

“CBP works hard to avoid loss of life among those who attempt to enter the U.S. illegally,” Brooks said. “CBP reminds those who might consider attempting to illegally cross of the dangers involved, from smugglers who may seek to exploit them to harsh physical conditions.”

The Rio Grande Valley section of the border saw the largest increase in deaths where they more than doubled from 2012.