Associated Press

YUMA, Ariz. – Mexican officials are putting up posters and handing out fliers along the border warning people of the dangers of trying to cross illegally into the
United States.

One of the posters uses a picture of the desert as a backdrop as it warns people of the harsh conditions they may face if they try to cross the Arizona desert during
the summer. Arizona's deserts can get as hot as 122 degrees during the day and as cold as 32 degrees at night.

"No human is capable of surviving these conditions," the poster reads.

The informational campaign launched recently by the Mexican Consulate and the Mexican Institute of Migration is designed to try to prevent border crossing deaths.

Dozens of undocumented immigrants die each year – most because of the heat – while trying to slip into the country through Arizona's deserts. The deaths have been
mounting in recent years as Arizona has become an increasingly popular crossing point because of tougher enforcement in other border areas.

The campaign is also intended to counter lies told by smugglers. Officials say undocumented immigrants are sometimes told they can walk from the border to
southern Arizona's Interstate 8 but soon learn it can take more than two days.

Hugo Oliva, Mexican consul in Yuma, said his staff would visit several San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico, bus stations and parks to hand out fliers.

"We are going everywhere they gather to inform them," Mr. Oliva said.

Mr. Oliva said that until there's an alternative for Mexicans wanting to come to this country to work, his office will keep encouraging immigrants to stay home and
calling the families of those who don't and die in the desert.