On-the-job fatalities had distinct regional patterns:

CALIFORNIA AND TEXAS: These states, where generations of Mexicans have developed strong support networks, still rank first and second in the annual number of Mexican worker deaths - but the numbers have steadied or fallen recently. Though the death rate for Mexican workers in California is far less than in Western and Southeastern states where they have arrived in large numbers only recently, it is still greater than the average for U.S.-born workers, the AP found.

WEST: Outside California, deaths in Western states increased from 41 in 1996 to 58 in 2002, and death rates hovered above the national average. Colorado and Washington stood out with consistently high rates. Federal data estimates of the Mexican-born population in Utah are too low to calculate reliable death rates for the seven-year span, though it appears the rate likely would be above the average for Western states outside California.

SOUTH: In the bloc of states from Louisiana to Maryland, the Mexican death rate averaged about 1 in 6,200 workers - four times that of native-born workers and more than double the national average for Mexicans. Florida, North Carolina and Georgia were consistently among the deadliest states. Total deaths more than tripled from 27 in 1996 to 94 in 2002 in the South (excluding Texas), where some states saw Mexican populations triple to more than 100,000 workers.

MIDWEST: The number of Mexicans killed annually doubled between 1996 and 2002, from 19 to 38; death rates were slightly above the national average for Mexicans.

NORTHEAST: In the region with the fewest Mexicans, death rates still far exceeded American worker averages. Total annual deaths rose from eight to 17, with New Jersey seeing a recent spike.