The crosses were made of cedar wood at a shelter just across the border between America and Mexico by other migrants – some were recently deported, others were preparing to embark on the trek north. Messages such as “Jesus was a migrant” and “No more deaths” were scratched on the colorful crosses in Spanish, which were originally intended as symbols of immigration rights, but instead become well-known markers of tragic journeys.
“These latest deaths deliver news for a day or two,” said Castro, 49, an organizer of the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) group. “Then they are forgotten.”
According to immigration authorities, the collision between an SUV with 25 people and a semi-truck on the outskirts of the small town of Holtville. It also points to the desperation of those fleeing poverty, unemployment and crime – even during a pandemic – for a life in a sometimes hostile country, lawyers said.
“They are our invulnerable persons,” Castro, 49, referred undocumented migrants whose lives allegedly do not count. “We have to give them a voice.”
Most of those who have crossed the border in the past few months are single adults, many of whom are from Mexico. In fact, 87% of the 71,000 migrants detained in December were single adults.
“This is ground zero for border crossings,” said Enrique Morones, the retired founder of the nonprofit Border Angels, in San Diego, about the easternmost regions of the Southwest region. He is planning a vigil at the Imperial Valley Collision Center next week.
Imperial County is not only a bustling agricultural region, but also a hub for migrant trade where so many illegal border crossings have been cut short by the vast and relentless wilderness.
“The whole border region is stained with the blood of mothers and babies, grandmothers and grandfathers, fathers and mothers, sons and brothers,” Castro lamented.
“There is not enough space”
The surveillance material showed two separate vehicles leaving the area where the fence was broken, in failed human smuggling work.
One vehicle, a maroon Ford Expedition, which can normally seat safely up to eight people, was full of 25 migrants – the rear seats removed. The other sports utility vehicle later caught fire and 19 migrants fleeing the vehicle were arrested in the nearby brush.
Verlyn Cardona, 46, undertook the trip from Guatemala with her 23-year-old daughter, Yesenia, who died on her side during the accident.
Cardona recalled walking almost an hour to the border with other migrants. A sports utility vehicle is waiting for them. She does not believe the plan was for so many people to pile up in the rear, Cardona told CNN and Español.
“People ran in and climbed on others,” she said from a hospital. “The door is closed. We said, ‘There is not enough space. Open the door.’ The truck was moving. ‘
A dozen people died at the scene
Police called at 6:15 a.m. about the crash. The large craft, which towed two empty trailers, was heading north on 115 State Road. The 1997 expedition was west on Norrish Road in the Holtville area – about 100 miles east of San Diego, according to California Highway Patrol Border Division Chief Omar Watson.
The 2011 Peterbilt semi-truck was driving at an unknown speed as it drove past the SUV. It is not clear if the SUV stopped, but he entered the intersection in front of the rig, Watson said.
Some occupants were put out of the SUV. Others were found dead inside, according to Watson. A dozen people died at the scene – the driver included – and another person died at a hospital. Nine others, including two minors, were still in hospitals Thursday.
Cardona remembers the crushing weight of others on top of her in the SUV. Then she opened her eyes as she lay on the asphalt.
“I woke up and we were scattered across the road,” she said. Her head and face are sore. A person close to her pleaded for help. Her daughter lay against her legs.
“She was already dead,” Cardona said. “I looked at her, turned her around. I talked to her, touched her. She had no pulse. Her lips were purple. I did not see bruises on her face.”
“You are dying. . . or you are fighting for your dream ‘
According to Cardona, she left the city of Chiquimulilla near Guatemala’s Pacific Coast with her daughter after the young student and aspiring lawyer received death threats from a local gang.
“I wanted to protect her,” Cardona said. “On the way here, she found death.”
Cardona’s brother Rudy Dominguez, who also fled gang violence when he emigrated to the US 16 years ago, said the pandemic, unemployment and crime had devastated Chiquimulilla.
“You have two choices: you die in Guatemala or you fight for your dream and come here and stay here … and have a better life with your family,” he said.
The passengers of the SUV were between 15 and 53 years old, the authorities said. They come from Mexico and Guatemala.
According to consular officials, at least ten of the 13 people killed in the crash are Mexican citizens.
The SUV driver was from the border city of Mexicali, capital of the Mexican state of Baja California.
On the morning of the collision, authorities responded to a call from a red Chevrolet Suburban engulfed in flames near the intersection of Interstate 8 and State Route 115, where 19 people were found in the brush. The border patrol said they also entered the country through the hole in the border fence.
It is not known what caused the semitruck on the management side of the expedition to land at the rural crossing about 10 kilometers north of the border with Mexico.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said agents never tried to stop or chase any SUV.
The highway patrol and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the accident, while CBP is leading the investigation into human trafficking.
“Human smugglers have repeatedly shown that they have little respect for human lives,” El Centro’s CBP chief executive Gregory Bovino said in a statement. ‘Those who are considering crossing the border illegally should stop and think about the dangers that all too often lead to tragedy; tragedies that our border patrol agents and first responders are unfortunately very familiar with. ‘
Hundreds of unknown remains found
The pandemic took a toll in Latin America, where Covid-19 cases and deaths skyrocketed and economies that would once have predicted declined.
In a detention by the Trump administration, people who illegally cross the border between America and Mexico could be expelled from the country quickly, with little consequence under a public health order imposed last year. This has led to single adults trying to cross several times. And advocates said the policy forces some migrants to try to evade the authorities at all costs.
According to the CBP, most of the remains – men, women and children, many from Mexico and Central America – were probably people who died due to dehydration or exposure to intense heat or below freezing temperatures. Some went hungry after being left by smugglers.
“The first thing many people encounter when they jump the fence is the canal,” said Nikolai Beope, a member of the Water Station group, who leaves water in plastic drums for dehydrated migrants. “When you go to the canal, you see a bunch of homemade power devices. It’s such a violent gamble, and people are willing to do it all the time.”
Castro, the immigrant rights activist, said he rushed from the border town of George Calexico crossed the crash scene Tuesday with a box after seeing a Facebook message.
” A truck pulled up that night and started spraying water on the road, ” he said. “For a moment, it felt like the highway was full of blood. I turned away and put down more crosses.”
Priscilla Alvarez of CNN and Jaqueline Hurtado and Gregg Canes of CNN and Español contributed to this report.