Mexicans Died Searching for Better Life

POZOS, Mexico (AP) May 16, 2004 - Fed up with earning $7 a day in this sweltering, strawberry growing town in central Mexico, Roberto Rivera followed his brother as he headed for a Florida tomato packing plant.

The two never made it.

On Wednesday, the brothers and their neighbor were among 18 people who died after being locked inside a sweltering semi-trailer at a truck stop in Victoria, Texas. Two others from Pozos survived, one of whom identified the three bodies.

The grisly discovery was horrifying -- but nothing new to families in Mexico. Hundreds of migrants die each year trying to cross the border. Many cases receive little attention.

On Tuesday, two brothers drowned in the Rio Grande while trying to enter Texas illegally, and there are nearly daily reports of migrant deaths as temperatures rise in Arizona -- a popular spot to cross because the wide-open desert is difficult to patrol.

Justa Rico lost her son, Roberto Esparza, who hid inside a train to the United States for a better life and died with 10 others in Iowa after a migrant smuggler locked them in a rail car.

It took eight months to identify his badly decomposed body, and his mother is still trying to scrape together the $1,200 to bring his remains home.

"Those who lost their relatives yesterday are starting a difficult process,'' she said. "They are heading down a long road.''

Mexican officials confirmed Thursday that 12 of the 18 dead in Texas were Mexican citizens. The other six dead were apparently Central Americans who also went north in search of a better life.

The Mexican dead included a 31-year-old father and his 6-year-old son. The bodies of the father and son were reportedly found locked in a death embrace.

The smugglers apparently unhitched the trailer at the Victoria, Texas, truck stop, 175 miles from the Mexican border, and drove off.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Tyrone Williams, 32, of Schenectady, N.Y., was charged Thursday in Houston with transporting and harboring undocumented immigrants.

Serafin Rivera was among the dead, leaving behind two young children. He returned to Mexico in December after two years working at the Florida tomato packing plant, earning $4 an hour. But he was unable to find work and decided to return to the United States.

He left with his brother, Roberto, and neighbor, Hector Ramirez, on May 5, heading to the border city of Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas. A smuggler charged them nearly $2,000 each to get them across the border.

Although four of the five had previously crossed with another smuggler, they chose to go with a new group that promised to get them to Florida faster.

"Serafin was always happy there,'' said his mother, Adelina Gamez. "He'd call and say, 'Here a man earns a fair wage for his work.' "

The smugglers gave the men a U.S. telephone number to leave with family members. Roberto's brother-in-law, Samuel Gamez, called on Tuesday and spoke to his relatives. When they heard about what happened in Texas, they tried the number again.

"I asked for Roberto,'' the brother-in-law said. "They told me to wait a minute, then after five minutes they hung up. We never got to speak to him again.''

Roberto's wife, who is two months pregnant and caring for the couple's 4-year-old boy, suspected her husband was among the dead. She became so upset she had to be hospitalized. Early Thursday, officials from Mexico's foreign relations department called and confirmed her worst fears.

The deaths have once again prompted calls from lawmakers and federal officials for a migration accord between Mexico and the United States.

"Migration must be safe, legal and orderly,'' said Roberto Rodriguez of Mexico's foreign relations department.

President Vicente Fox was pushing the United States to allow more Mexicans to cross the border legally, but his administration has backed off those calls after the Sept. 11 attacks.

U.S. officials have said an accord is unlikely, and a U.S. congressional committee angered many Mexicans when it said any future agreements on migration should include a clause opening Mexico's oil industry to U.S. investment.

Mexican officials said Thursday they would redouble efforts at trying to prevent illegal crossings by airing television and radio ads publicizing the dangers.

So far this year, 72 Mexicans have died trying to cross into the United States illegally, according to the Mexican foreign relations department. Last year, 371 deaths were reported, compared to 391 in 2001 and 491 in 2000.

Julian Rivera said his two brothers felt the United States was their only chance.

"Roberto went because his wife was pregnant and there was no other option,'' he said. "Serafin left because he was looking for a way to support his family. He was desperate.''