Posted on 09/30/2008 5:54:53 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
Roberto Ventura Lazo and Jose Baltazar Gamez Rodriguez's final memories from Aug. 7 are of them lying at the bottom of a pile of people in the back of an SUV at about 5 a.m. somewhere north of Douglas.
Nearly three hours later, emergency personnel found the two Salvadorans along with 17 other illegal immigrants trapped inside a smashed, overturned Chevrolet Suburban near Arizona 79 north of Tucson. Nine were pronounced dead at the scene, 10 were taken to hospitals with serious injuries, with one dying later — making it one of the deadliest vehicle crashes involving illegal immigrants in Southern Arizona history.
The first call to the Salvadoran Consulate in Nogales, Ariz., about the crash came in at 9:54 a.m. A paramedic from Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix told Consul General José Joaquín Chacón that they had a Salvadoran man in their care.
By that night, Joaquín was visiting more Salvadorans in hospitals and coming to the realization that the majority of the injured and deceased might be from the Central American nation. Officials eventually confirmed that seven of the 10 who died and eight of the nine who suffered serious injuries were from El Salvador — making it a tragedy for the nation of more than 7 million people.
"Since the consulate opened here 3 1/2 years ago, there hasn't been a tragedy this stunning," Joaquín said. Illegal immigration from the the country is not rare — El Salvador ranked among the top three nations for people deported from the United States from 2004 through 2006, along with Mexico and Honduras. But a relatively small number of its citizens die on the journey.
The seven who died in the crash surpass the total of six Salvadoran illegal immigrants found dead in Arizona in all of 2006 and 2007, Joaquín said.
That's why the accident made front-page news in El Salvador, prompting panicked phone calls from family members trying to figure out if their sons and daughters had survived, Joaquín said.
The family of Ventura, 23, believed their son was dead, and in fact he barely avoided dying. Ventura was in a coma for nine days before waking up and slowly recovering his memory, Joaquín said.
"He returned by a pure miracle," Joaquín said. His family members didn't believe he was alive when Margarito Rivas, a Salvadoran who lives in Chandler and has been helping Ventura and others since the accident, called them.
"They didn't believe it and were crying and crying," Rivas said. "They didn't believe it until they heard his voice."
Gamez, 20, was unconscious for four days before waking up. He learned that his uncle had died in the crash.
Gamez and Ventura know they've been given a second opportunity at life, considering the gravity of the crash. "We thank God that we are still alive," Ventura said.
How they survived
What appeared to be a bad stroke of luck for Ventura and Gamez on that fateful morning might have actually saved their lives, Rivas said.
Ventura and Gamez likely passed out at the bottom of the human pile from the heat and the weight of the others on top of them, said Rivas, who has heard accounts of the accident from four survivors. If the accident had not occurred, they might have died due to suffocation, he said.
But when the big sport utility vehicle flew off the highway and landed on its roof, Gamez and Ventura were cushioned by the other bodies between them and the roof.
Both suffered injuries, and they have scars and bruises. Most of those piled on top died.
At the Rivas house in Chandler last week, Ventura and Gamez recalled their mothers' pleas for them to stay home and how they ignored them. They said they made their first trips to the United States because they felt trapped making $4 a day working in the fields in El Salvador.
"My mom told me: 'Don't go. We're better off being poor here where at least we are making it. But if you go, something may happen to you; you have never made that trip before,' " Gamez said.
Ventura said he can't speak to his mother by phone without her crying.
They both said they never would have come if they had known about the hardship they would endure, which included lengthy stays in federal detention centers.
Ventura and Gamez were among five survivors whom immigration officials chose to keep in the United States as material witnesses to build a case against the suspected driver of the Suburban. A 32-year-old man from Hermosillo, Mexico, has been charged with transportation of illegal immigrants resulting in death.
Ventura spent nearly a month in the detention centers after a 19-day hospital stay. Gamez was incarcerated for more than a month after a one-week hospital stay. They made several trips to court and videotaped their declarations as part of the process, Ventura said. What's next
That time in jail, however, might end up working in their favor.
They were released last week by immigration officials on their own recognizance without bond and were allowed to travel to be with relatives living in the United States. They must check in each month with immigration officials and are expected to receive work permits, Rivas and Joaquín said.
Joaquín said U.S. officials have indicated they are going to try to get them one of two special visas available to victims of human trafficking or certain crimes that would allow them to live and work here legally.
Officials with the U.S. District Court in Arizona and with Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed their release but couldn't speak on specifics of work permits or visas.
Generally, material witnesses are kept in the country until the criminal process concludes, which can take several years, said Vincent Picard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman in Phoenix. During that time, they are sometimes given work permits, he said.
Rivas, along with his wife, Marta Rivas, and their three children, decided to help after seeing the accident on Spanish-language TV. Last weekend, Rivas drove Ventura and Gamez to California. He dropped Ventura off with an uncle who lives in Northern California and Gamez with a brother in Southern California.
For the first time since they left their country in early July, the two young Salvadorans are with family members again. Both said that despite all that has happened, they are determined to do what they came to do: make money in the U.S.
"We've already made the effort," Ventura said. "To suffer so much on the way just to come and visit the jail — why would we do that?"
In El Salvador — a country still feeling the effects of a 12-year civil war that took the lives of 75,000 people — government officials are using the tragedy as a way to raise awareness of the dangers people face when trying to cross into the United States, Joaquín said.
"They are making calls for the people not to risk their lives like this in an effort to avoid another tragedy," Joaquín said.
On StarNet: See more photos from this story at azstarnet.com/slideshows
● Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com.
University Medical Center — treated three patients from the rollover at an estimated cost of $185,000, hospital spokeswoman Katie Riley said.
Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix — treated two patients. One was there for 13 days and cost $142,000 to treat, and the other stayed for five days and cost $15,760 to treat, hospital spokeswoman Judy Keane said.
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix — treated four people from the accident but declined to give the cost to treat them due to confidentiality issues.
They were released last week by immigration officials on their own recognizance without bond and were allowed to travel to be with relatives living in the United States. They must check in each month with immigration officials and are expected to receive work permits, Rivas and Joaquín said.
Joaquín said U.S. officials have indicated they are going to try to get them one of two special visas available to victims of human trafficking or certain crimes that would allow them to live and work here legally.
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PING
Time to start billing their country of origin.
“...victims of human trafficking...”
I saw that as well. What utter crap!
How can you be a “victim” if you pay a coyote $5,000+ to help you commit a crime against America ???
Pondering...........
So if I rob a bank and my partner locks me in the vault to get caught, I should be given a break because my partner in crime screwed me over.
THey were in an accident....
Just being transported...
Which is illegal BTW...
They got into the vehicle, WILLINGLY...
More like if your partner caught your fingers in the door or you fell down the stairs and you had to seek medical care...
And Voila...
You are now a victim...
Now you can sue and own the bank...
Happens all the time with 100% U.S. citizens. Turn the little fish to get the big fish. With any kind of luck, the coyote will in turn squeal on his master.
Victims? What victims? Sounds like the victims here are the hospitals having to shell out that much money to treat them.
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