The truck

(Photo courtesy of AZ Dept of Public Safety)

I talked to a man named Luis the other day that was one of 97 people that had been caught in a tractor trailer. When I was at INM, interviewing the director of Mexican Immigration, she got a phone call saying that 97 people had been caught in one tractor trailer. They were being repatriated and there were two pregnant women among them. No one knew if people were injured or for how long they had been trapped in the truck.

Apparently they had, for the most part, crossed separately in small groups, jumping over the fence on the outskirts of the city. Luis, the man I talked to was from Tlaxacala and had met the coyote here in this city. He was incredibly confused by the whole experience. One coyote told them to cross with another guide and then that guide told them to meet someone on the other side, where they were put in the truck. They only walked for a few hours before entering the trailer. He was headed to Minnesota and was going to pay 2500 for the crossing.

Luis said that the truck was terrifying. He had no idea that there were that many people there until he was told later. It was cold and pitch black when they closed the door. It was a lettuce truck, which, according to my friends in produce and the reports on the news, runs at 34 degrees, making hypothermia a threat to those inside. "You had no idea who was next to you, touching you," said Luis. After the trailer was packed full, people in the back immediately began to bang on the walls trying to get the driver to stop and let them out. Luckily, they were only in the truck for about 20 minutes. A police officer stopped them before they got to border patrol check-point. He opened the back and was visibly surprised and frightened, slamming the door shut. Luis laughed about the look of shock on the face of the police officer. He said that people began eating the melons that were in the truck after they got out. While he said he was upset about failing to cross, he did not want to stay in that truck. I told him he was lucky. People die frequently trying to cross with cargo. He was surprised about this

After reading some newspaper articles, it seemed that someone must have witnessed people getting into the truck and called police or border patrol. According to periodical sources, the police officer got the call and saw the truck, pulling it over for a mud-flap violation.

The most striking thing to me is that one never knows what the crossing is going to be like. There is no way of preparing for it. Better information to migrants about the risks of crossing may do very little because a coyote will tell you three hours and maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Other times, they will tell you that you cross in a vehicle, maybe you do, maybe you don’t. Yes, the majority of people cross in the desert and it takes a long time, longer than one day promised by most coyotes. Being prepared, bringing water, knowing how to find water and the likelihood of being able to survive without supplies is all very important information, but all bets are off if you wind up in a truck. I have no idea how long they had planned to keep them in that truck, maybe just to Phoenix, maybe all the way to Minnesota.

For more information or a verification of this story see: http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/us/2009/07/30/D99P3NEG0_us_immigrants_refrigerated_trailer/