THE JOURNEY
CROSSING INTO THE U.S.
As they crossed into the U.S. Quique
and Eber put their lives in the hands of a complete
stranger.
Hundreds of people die each year in an attempt
to cross the border. One coyote jammed almost
one hundred migrants into an 18-wheeler. At $2000
a head, the load was worth almost a quarter of
a million dollars.
The U.S. border patrol has permanent
checkpoints on all the highways leading north
from the Mexican border. They do thousands of
searches every week looking for illegal immigrants.
The driver said he was taking an empty load to
Houston and was waved through the checkpoint.
But inside the truck the immigrants
were panicking. There was no ventilation and people
were slowly suffocating. The driver didn't hear
the screaming and kept on going.
Nineteen people including a five
year-old boy, died inside the truck. It was the
deadliest case of illegal immigrant smuggling
ever. (read a news
story about it)
Matias Flores, from Honduras survived the ordeal
and says that coyotes can't be trusted.
Matias Flores:
They lie to us and they don't tell us about the
risks. For them it's like selling a product. They
make a business out of our lives. I would never
do it again.
This tragedy happened just days before Quique and
his friends arrived in Mexico.
Quique:
The news was scary, but I was determined to make
the trip and didn't think twice.
The security at the American border is tight.
The U.S. spends $1.2 billion-a-year and has 9000
people committed to holding back the tide of illegal
immigrants. Rick Aquirre, is the border patrol
agent in change of one sector.
Rick Aquirre: The
smuggler will do everything he can to avoid border
patrol. If that means walking 15 miles off a paved
roadway he will do it. And if somebody dies, that's
the price of doing business.
But Quique and Eber weren't worried.
In the middle of the night, a group of 11 migrants
quietly made their way across the Rio Grande river
on inner tubes into the U.S.
But the truck that was supposed
to meet them on the other side was nowhere to
be seen. So the group set off on foot into the
desert without food or water. Then the coyote's
cell phone died.
Rick Aquirre: Everything
here in the south bites - scorpions, snakes, tarantulas
and cactus. There are 101, 102 degree temperatures.
Whatever water you have take it with you, because
there is no water out there. As of today we have
38 deaths in this sector.
The desert is a hot, dangerous
place - especially for people who are unprepared.
Thousands of illegal immigrants have died because
of dehydration or heat stroke. Many of the bodies
are never identified.
Three days passed before journalist
Jorge Flores got a phone call from Quique.
Quique: We
almost died. We were three days without food.
We couldn't take it we were going to turn ourselves
in.
Once again Quique encountered a miracle. The group
found a hunter's lodge. They helped themselves
to some food - mostly bread and ketchup - and
charged the coyote's cell phone. Then a pickup
truck came for them.
They passed the checkpoints and after six weeks
and 5000 kilometres - they made it to the promised
land. But the journey still wasn't over.
