Children start out with the goal of earning enough money to support their parents and siblings. In the hope of achieving success, young adults made sacrifices to go to college. They left disillusioned. An American man who was already employed decided to return to his family to meet a cousin.
Families of more than 60 people were forced into a tractor-trailer, and left behind on Monday in Texas. They began to talk about their worst fears and their hopes for the future. A common narrative was emerging from Mexico to Honduras: a better life.
As of Wednesday, 53 of the migrants who fled the heat of San Antonio were dead. Others are still in hospital. Families are now confirming their losses, but the tedious process of identifying them continues.
Francisco Garduno (chief of Mexico’s National Immigration Institute) said that the dead included 27 Mexicans, 14 Hondurans, and two El Salvadorians.
They all gave their lives to smugglers. The news of the trailer full bodies shocked cities and villages used to seeing their youth fleeing poverty and violence in Central America and Mexico.
Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero (23), and Margie Tamara Pez Grajeda (24) believed that their degrees in marketing and economics would lead to economic stability in Las Vegas, Honduras. They live in a small town of 10,000 people in Las Vegas, Honduras.
The young couple, who have been together almost a decade now, applied for jobs at companies in recent years. They were repeatedly denied.
When the pandemic struck, hurricanes decimated the northern region of the country, and people became disillusioned.
They were open to the offer of a relative in America, Andino Caballero, to help them and their younger brother Fernando Jose Redondo Caballero (18 years old), finance the trip north.
Karen Caballero, Karen’s mother, said that her brothers believe that people with higher educations are more likely to find better jobs. “Because that is why they work,study.”
Caballero didn’t feel she could keep them back, even Paz Grajeda (24-year-old), who lived with Alejandro at his mother’s house and whom Caballero referred as her daughter in law, even though they were not married.
Caballero stated, “We all planned it together as a family so that they could have a new life, so that they could achieve goals, dreams.”
Caballero was there to accompany them when they left Las Vegas on June 4. The trio of young men were then smuggled through Guatemala and Mexico by semitrailers.
She said, “I believed things would go well.” Alejandro Miguel was the only one who was afraid. He replied, “Mom, if anything happens to us. He said, “Mom, if something happens to us, it will happen.” I replied, “Nothing is going be happening, nothing is going. “You are not the last person to visit the United States.
Caballero spoke last to them Saturday morning. They said they had crossed Rio Grande at Roma, Texas and were heading to Laredo. On Monday, they expected to travel north to Houston.
When someone asked her to turn on the TV, she had just returned from work Monday evening. She said that she couldn’t believe what she was seeing about the trailer in San Antonio. “Then, I thought back to how my sons had traveled. They had been in trucks since Guatemala, and all the way through Mexico.
Caballero was able confirm their deaths Tuesday after they sent their photos and details to San Antonio.
Alejandro Miguel was creative and jovial. He was well-known for his generosity of spirit, hugging everyone, and being a great dancer. Fernando Jose was a kind, generous man who would help anyone in need. In everything, he imitated his older brother. Their mother was filled with their soccer enthusiasm, and they would shout at each other.
Her sons’ deaths and Paz Grajeda’s death, who was almost like a child, were devastating. She said, “My children have left a void in our hearts.” We’re going to miss them very much.
The prospects for Wilmer Tulul, and Pascual Melvin, their 13-year-old cousins, from Tzucubal (Guatemala), were much less than they had been.
Tzucubal, an Indigenous Quiche community consisting of approximately 1,500 people, is located in the mountains about 100 miles northwest from the capital. Most of its inhabitants subsistence farm.
“Mom we’re headed out,” was Wilmer’s last message to Magdalena Tepaz, his mother in Quiche. They had left their home on June 14.
A neighbor informed the family that there had been an accident at San Antonio hours before they heard the audio message. They feared the worst. Tepaz spoke through a translator.
Maria Sipac Coj, Melvin’s mother, stated that the boys were close friends who had grown up together and enjoyed all things: going out, playing, and even planning to visit the United States.
She is a single mother of two and said Melvin wanted to go to college in America, then work, and finally build her house. Monday morning, her son voicemail informed her that they were leaving. It was too much for her to bear to hear anymore so she deleted it.
The boys were greeted in Houston by their relatives who paid the smuggler. These relatives informed her about their deaths and the Guatemalan government confirmed it to her Wednesday.
Manuel de Jesus Tulul was Wilmer’s dad and couldn’t stop crying Wednesday. Although he didn’t know how the boys would travel to Houston, he said that he never thought they would be in a trailer. After elementary school, his son joined his father to clear farmland for planting.
Tulul stated that Wilmer didn’t see a future in a small town built using remittances from the United States. He wanted to support his three siblings, and own his own home and land.
They were charged $6,000 by the smuggler, nearly half of what they had already paid. Tulul only thought about his son’s return and hoped the government would pay the bill.
Javier Flores Lopez and Jose Luis Vasquez Guzman, their Mexican cousins, left Cerro Verde, a small community in Oaxaca to support their families. They headed for Ohio to find construction jobs and other work.
According to his family, Flores Lopez has been reported missing while Vasquez Guzman remains in San Antonio.
Cerro Verde, a community of 60 people, has been largely abandoned by the younger generation. The few who are still around weave sun hats, mats, and brooms from palm leaves. Many people live on less than 2 dollars per day, or 30 pesos.
Flores Lopez, now in the mid-30s and living in Ohio, was not the first to cross the U.S.-Mexico frontier. He left Cerro Verde many years ago and moved to Ohio where his father, and brother, live.
Francisco Lopez Hernandez, a cousin said that he was returning home to visit his wife and their three children. Vasquez Guzman (32 years old) decided to travel with his cousin to cross the border. He hoped to also reach his older brother, who is in Ohio.
Although everyone was aware of the dangers, many Cerro Verde residents had managed to cross the U.S.-Mexico border without incident. Lopez Hernandez stated that it was a surprise to learn Vasquez Guzman was one of the people who were found in the abandoned trailer near auto salvage yards. Although Flores Lopez is believed to be the victim, the family is still waiting confirmation.
Vasquez Guzman was her mother. She had hoped to obtain a visa to visit her son in hospital. However, on Wednesday Vasquez Guzman was released from intensive care. He was now able to be contacted by telephone. Aida Ruiz (director of the Oaxaca Institute for Migrant Attention) said that she decided to stay in Mexico while her son recovers.
Lopez Hernandez stated that most people depend on Americans who have reached the U.S. to send money. This is usually around $9,000.
He said, “There are many risks, but those who are fortunate, the fortune is there to be able work, earn money.”
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that two men could be sentenced to death for their involvement in the incident.
Homero Zamorano, a Texas native, was taken into custody Wednesday for criminal charges related to his alleged involvement with the deadly smuggling operation. According to the Justice Department, the Pasadena resident, 45, could face life imprisonment or death penalty if convicted.
Federal law enforcement officers executed a warrant for Christian Martinez’s cell phone to search it. According to the DOJ, investigators discovered communications between Martinez and Martinez that discussed the smuggling plot.
