A man secures a cross to a makeshift memorial where dozens of migrants were found dead in San Antonio. A new report says those victims were coerced into a smuggling that turned deadly.
Eric Gay, STF / Associated Press
A collection of texts, photos, and video messages show that more than 60 immigrants collected thousands of dollars to pay for what smugglers billed as a “VIP” trip across the Texas-Mexico border. Instead, 53 of those immigrants died after being abandoned in the back of hot semi-truck on a San Antonio road on June 27.
Two of the Mexican immigrants that died, Pablo Ortega, 19, and Julio Lopez, 32, received texts from the smugglers promising a “special” and “secure” trip that promised beer, safe houses with video games, and a week at a hunting ranch, Reuters reported. Ortega paid $13,000 and Lopez paid $12,000 to the smugglers for the transport, their families told Reuters.
The wife of one of the victims, Adriana Gonzalez, told Reuters that she heard the smugglers tell her husband that they wouldn’t travel through the desert and there wouldn’t be any danger.
Data from the Mexican government says that price is $2,000 to $7,000 higher than the average payment. Families of the victims that spoke to Reuters also give us a look at who the immigrants were and why they wanted to come to the U.S.
Ortega wanted to make it to Florida to meet up with his mom, and to make money to send back to his pregnant girlfriend carrying what would have been his first child. Lopez, who was a sawmill worker from Chiapas, also wanted to earn money to send back to his family to pay for autism care for his youngest of three children.
Two men, Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, of Pasadena, Texas, and Christian Martinez, 28, of Palestine, Texas, were indicted in July in the deaths of the 53 victims. If convicted, they could face life sentences or the death penalty, as well as 20 years for serious injury indictments.