The Devil's Highway

It appears that Mendez and Lauro are going to be safe. At the beginning of Chapter 14 they have walked over 40 miles since leaving the walkers. Then Lauro begins to give up. He sits and Mendez can’t budge him. When Mendez tries to start walking again, his legs give out and he begins crawling. He lies down and decides to rest for a little while.

On Wednesday, May 23, Border Agent Mike F. stumbles onto the group of walkers while returning home from maneuvers. He calls it in and within five minutes, most of the Border Patrol, including five helicopters, is searching for them. The next segment of Chapter 14 provides the names of those who have died and the survivors’ memories of being found. The listing of names and the personal accounts of the survivors provides a tragic echo of the introductions made in Chapter 11. 

Chapter 15 is devoted to the details of the survivors’ situation. Now that they have been found, they have also been arrested. They recover slowly in hospital beds with the government footing the bill. The Mexican Consul in Calexico, Rita Vargas, comes to visit them. She is famous for fighting against Border Patrol corruption and violence. She is there to ensure that they are treated well and according to the law.

As soon as the men are well enough to be interviewed, law enforcement officials begin interrogating them. Nahum does not want to tell them anything that will incriminate him, but he tells them that Mendez was the Coyote, and is there in the same hospital with them. Soon, all the walkers have implicated Mendez and the authorities know that by the time they talk to him, they’ll have everything they need to prosecute.

Paul K. Charlton, the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, is put in charge of prosecuting Mendez. He is professional and articulate, but there is so much evidence against Mendez that his talents are almost unnecessary. The full text of Mendez’s letter of apology, in which he asks for leniency and professes that he never knew such a tragedy was possible on a walk, appears in full in Chapter 15.

The final section of Chapter 15 describes the preparations for returning the bodies of the dead walkers to Veracruz. They are put into body bags. Urrea describes the pain that each man must have felt as a result of his injuries—cactus punctures, desiccated lips, burned skin, and failed kidneys—and states that the men are now beyond hurt. All that remains is to take their bodies back home.

Chapter 16 begins with Mendez pontificating on his status. He was captured, but he believes he has handled his situation as a “macho.” He hasn’t snitched, begged, or wept. And yet, he knows that his life—at least, any version of the life he wanted for himself—is effectively over.

Two weeks after leaving the house of Don Moi, the bodies of the deceased are loaded into a small flotilla and driven towards a cargo jet in Tucson. There is a public outpouring of grief. Citizens line the street and weep. When asked why she attended, Raquel Rubio Goldsmith, a “tireless crusader for border reforms” (196), says, “There should be no such thing as an illegal person on this planet” (196).

When the bodies are returned to Veracruz, a huge media event is staged. The Governor speaks of them as heroes and martyrs. The coffins are loaded into hearses and taken away. Anti-American sentiment is rampant in the crowd. Vargas is disgusted by the political calculations that created this spectacle. Later, she will estimate that flying the bodies back on the cargo jet cost over $68,000. “What if,” she says, “somebody has simply invested that amount in their villages to begin with?” (199).

Mendez is transferred to a jail in Phoenix. The Border Patrol is laying all of the blame on him. He continues to say that he meant to go back for him, that it is not his fault. But he pleads guilty. Any of the charges against him could have resulted in the death penalty. By admitting culpability he is able to avoid execution.

The remainder of Chapter 16 discusses developments in immigration policy and procedure since the tragedy. There is an intricate breakdown of the money spent on policing the border and its efficacy. Statistics are also given that negate many of the talking points that “tough on immigration” American politicians are so fond of.

By the end of The Devil’s Highway, it is clear that many things need to change, but that such change is unlikely. There are some efforts that meet with mild success—for instance, the Mexican government began building waters towers near checkpoints used by walkers on their journeys, but the towers were quickly destroyed by criminals who did not like the idea of walkers not having to depend on their help during the walks.