Community members are embracing justice and finding hope in the guilty verdicts from the Quintana Road smuggling tragedy.
SAN ANTONIO — Justice has prevailed. Two members of the community said that’s their take on the guilty verdicts handed down Tuesday in the Quintana Road human smuggling tragedy.
Local artist Andrea V. Rivas and Executive Director of Luminaria, Yadhira Lozano, gave their reaction near a south-side mural dedicated to the people impacted that day, which is considered the deadliest incident of its kind in U.S. history.
The mural was unveiled last year at Mission County Park. Luminaria was commissioned to do the project. Rivas was one of the artists who had a hand in the mural.
“We wanted to show the sacrifice of the migrants as they crossed over,” Rivas said. “But we also wanted to show hope. Some of them like my family do make it.”
The mural called “Sacrificios” or sacrifices is to remember the people who died and for those that did survive the tragedy. Some of the people killed that day were from Honduras like Rivas’ family.
“My parents left everything behind, sacrificed their lives and came here for a better future,” she said. “To me, this is my family.”
As for Lozano, she said the mural is a testament to the human endurance and human desire for a better life.
“It is important to remember they were human beings and that they had hopes and desires,” Lozano said. “A lot of them were very young.”
Of the several dozens killed was an unborn baby to a 13-year-old.
“I am glad that justice prevailed today,” Lozano said.
“There is anger,” Rivas said. “There is sadness.”
Among many visuals on the mural, there are stars that each represent a life. Each of the stars have initials of the people who didn’t survive.
“The humanity gets lost in the process,” Lozano said. “And we forget that these were real people that had full lives.”
The mural is located at Mission County Park not far from Roosevelt Avenue just off Padre Drive.