Dying To Cross

Dying To Cross
The Worst Immigrant Tragedy in America History
By: Elizabeth Tavares

May 13, 2003 about nineteen persons died from asphyxia, dehydration and heat, after being trapped for hours inside of a truck that was supposed to take them to Harlingen Texas. They never got there. The dream of having a better life in the United States never came true just because of the negligence of peoplewho only wanted to earn money the easy way, not looking forward of what was going to happen and the consequences of their acts.
Among the dead was a five year old boy (Ramos xi). Enrique Ortega traveled from Puebla, Mexico to Matamoros, Tamaulipas to find a job and better life in the United States with his family who was already in the United States. In Tamaulipas he talked with VictorRodriguez who told him he was going to help him to cross the border. He was going to pay two thousand dollars to get from Matamoros, Tamaulipas to Houston, Texas. On May 12 2003 the coyote went to look for Enrique at the hotel he was staying in, they crossed the border the same night to Brownsville Texas. Victor’s wife called a woman named Karla Chavez who apparently had two spaces left to cross Enriqueand another person from the Dominic Republic. Enrique was transported to a house in Harlingen where he waited to leave for Houston. They told Enrique he was going to travel in a truck but they never said they were going to travel in the back of the truck with many others persons. On May 13 2003, all the group including Enrique were taken to the outside of town where the truck was waiting for them.At first Enrique wasn’t so sure about going in the back of a truck, he remembered that movie called “El carro de la muerte” (the car of death) were all the immigrants died inside. He felt like something wasn’t right, but at the same time he thought, if I don’t go in the truck immigration will take me and I’ll go to jail again and I’m going to lose my two thousand dollars, so he jumped in thetruck. Karla, Abel and Freddy were the ones in charge. They were going to cross them to the USA but that never happened. Enrique was the last one to jump in the truck, after five minutes he started to sweat and all the people in there started sweating also. It was so hot in there. There wasn’t enough space in the truck, many of the illegal had to travel standing up, others sitting on top of others andso on. After ten minutes the temperature in the truck was of 110⁰ Fahrenheit, it was so hot it was like a sauna, people started getting nauseated, dizzy and their pulse was getting faster due to the heat. It was hard to function normally because the temperature of the body was so high, they couldn’t work, and think as when they were in normal temperatures. Enrique was right next to the trucksdoor trying to break the back lights of the truck. He made a hole only to see his hands all full of blood for trying to breaking them. The hardest thing of all was the five year old boy who was traveling with them in the truck. They try to put him in the back of the truck where the hole was at so maybe he would feel better, because the situation wasn’t looking good. After the second hour it was hardto breathe, many people started losing consciousness and started to vomit. “I knew I was going to die” (Ramos 52) I started praying just like everyone else. Hoping somebody will see our hands through the hole we made, but I guess nobody did, it seems like somebody was following us because I saw the same lights most of the way. “Many immigrants were shoving each other trying to breath on the bottomof the truck, others started to get delirious and fell into coma” (Ramos 56) “I saw the dead” he said with tears in his eyes, “I clearly saw the dead” (Ramos 58). After three hours they felt the air conditioner was for first time working, but it wasn’t enough cool air when the temperature of the body can’t go back to normal. After four hours the driver finally stopped because he saw one of the...