Poverty, jobs and debt drove migrants to suffocating Texas truck

Record ID: 904372

  • Title: Poverty, jobs and debt drove migrants to suffocating Texas truck
  • Date: 27th July 2017
  • Summary: CALVILLO, AGUASCALIENTES, MEXICO (JULY 25, 2017) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF TOWN SQUARE TOWN SIGN FOOTPATH PUBLIC SERVANT SITTING IN TOWN SQUARE AND WEARING VEST THAT READS "WELCOME HOME FELLOW CITIZEN" AS PART OF INITIATIVE FOR RETURNING MIGRANTS MORE OF TOWN SQUARE GIANT LETTERING OF TOWN'S NAME EL LLANO, AGUASCALIENTES, MEXICO (JULY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) HOMES IN LOCAL SUBURB STATUE OF THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE NEAR CANDLE AND CACTUS PLANT VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE STATUE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BROTHER OF MIGRANT WHO DIED IN TEXAS TRUCK, GUADALUPE RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: "A lot of people went through that and it will be more in the future. (Reporter: What were your brother's dreams?) Like everybody else, to give their children a good life." STATUE OF THE GUADALUPE VIRGIN ON WALL BED OF MEXICAN MIGRANT WHO DIED IN TEXAS TRUCK SHOES OF MEXICAN MIGRANT WHO DIED IN TEXAS TRUCK (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BROTHER OF MIGRANT WHO DIED IN TEXAS TRUCK, GUADALUPE RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: "No, he just went to see if they would give him a visa to go there. (Reporter: Is the American dream worth it?) Yes, it is worth it in this situation (of poverty) but it's not worth a life." PRESA ALLENDE, GUANAJUATO, MEXICO (JULY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF BRIDGE CROSSING SIGN FOR STATE LAND LOCAL HOMES LOCAL STREET ENTRANCE TO LOCAL HOME SISTER OF MIGRANT WHO WAS HOSPITALISED FROM TEXAS TRUCK INCIDENT OUTSIDE HER HOME (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SISTER OF MIGRANT WHO WAS HOSPITALISED FROM TEXAS TRUCK INCIDENT, EDUVIGES PUENTE, SAYING: "It's bad, as you said we have hope in God that he returns but the truth is I don't know. It is something that is very sad, it's unfortunate." SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, GUANAJUATO, MEXICO (JULY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) LOCAL GOVERNMENT MINISTER GONZALO GONZALEZ IN HIS OFFICE GONZALEZ LOOKING AT PAPERWORK IN HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL GOVERNMENT MINISTER FOR SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, GONZALO GONZALEZ, SAYING: "The strategy from the United States forces our migrants to face alternatives to enter the country at greater risk. This will undoubtedly keep happening if United States' policy on migrants doesn't change." EXTERIOR OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICE ENTRANCE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICE TOWN SIGN FOR SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE
  • Embargoed: 10th August 2017 02:46
  • Keywords: Central America border President Donald Trump migrants Mexico Texas truck suffocate border wall United States
  • Location: CALVILLO, EL LLANO, AGUASCALIENTES, PRESA ALLENDE, SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDA, GUANAJUATO, MEXICO
  • City: CALVILLO, EL LLANO, AGUASCALIENTES, PRESA ALLENDE, SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDA, GUANAJUATO, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016RHRVC5
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Communities in Mexico are reeling from news out of Texas that ten migrants died onboard a suffocating ride across the U.S. border, with the elusive American dream still a draw that is too difficult to shake.
    Ten migrants died and 29 were hospitalised after more than 100 were packed into the stifling tractor-trailer for a 150-mile (240-km) drive from the border to San Antonio, where survivors spilled out in a Walmart parking lot on Sunday (July 23).
    Among the dead was Jose Rodriguez from the central Mexican town of Calvillo. Rodriguez had reportedly paid over $7,000 to be transported into the United States. But the journey north would prove to be his last. Rodriguez' brother Guadalupe told Reuters the search for the American dream was not worthy of one's life.
    Another Mexican national, Vicente Puente, is in a Texas hospital after the incident and is reportedly in stable condition. US authorities have temporary visas for those receiving medical treatment, but for desperate family members back home they want their loved ones to return.
    Apprehensions on the southwest border were down nearly 47 percent in the first six months of the year to 104,288 people, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol statistics. However, some believe that President Donald Trump's hardline on migrants is forcing many further underground, into dangerous treks across the border.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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