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History: The Devil's Highway is a name that has set out to illuminate one notion: bad medicine. The Devil's Highway is the area where many migrants follow to cross into the United States unlawfully from Mexico. The first recorded death was on January 18, 1541 and ever since that, locals believed that this area is haunted by Chupacabras and other gods, spirits, and creatures. The plants there are spiked and most of the wildlife are nocturnal. Thousands of people who have crossed this pathway had experienced harsh conditions and died.

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The Men: The five men who broke away from the group are lost and dehydrated. Due to the heat, they are close to death. They were at the area called Vidrios Drag and they had to decide on what to do. The choices they had were to cross the road and stagger along the front range of the mountains OR stay on the road and hope the Border hope the Border Patrol would find them.

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Border Patrol: Agents employed by the Border Patrol are dishonest and shady people. These agents are disliked and despised within the community, and many are ex-military meaning they are rigid and stubborn. According to the stories, the agents harassed and abused the detainees and left the bodies in the desert to decompose instead of filling out the reports if they collect the bodies.

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The Yuma 14/Wellton 26: The group of travelers are known as Yuma 14 or Wellton 26. People working on the Border Patrol have specific nicknames for people who crossed the border.They are trained experts in analyzing the desert's landscape. Agent Mike F. finds the five men off the drag. In the rest of the chapter, it basically outlines the brutal deaths of their 14 friends in the desert.  Their bodies are burnt and unrecognizable as they are examined and brought back to Mexico.

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Veracruz, which means “The True Cross,” is located between the mountains and the sea in southern Mexico. It is a home to a failing economy and the people there are very poor. A lot of men migrated to El Norte to find work and send money home. In the chapter, it included a description of Don Moi Garcia, the recruiter for coyotes in northern Mexico. The chapter also introduced Veracruz residents such as Mario Castillo Fernandez and Nahum Landa who are looking for money in America.

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This chapter included personal stories of the coyotes and their aliases. It continued with profiles of others joining the journey to the North. Coyotes versus trying to cross the border alone or with a non-trained group/guide. Lastly, it talked about the connections of the Mexican smugglers with smugglers on the U.S. side as well as their system of hierarchy.

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There were three guides that led the Welton 26 into the Devil's Highway.  El guia means the guide. Antonio Lopez Ramos or Mendez or also known as Jesus was the one who guided people down the Devil's Highway. Also, there were examples of other people that had died while crossing the U.S./Mexico border, such as a story about a car accident in the Summer of 2002

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This chapter described the background story of Jesus who is also known as Mendez is a guia. He is a poor person who worked in the San Antonio brickyard. Then, he meets Rodrigo Maradona who is also a fellow brick/tile worker. Maradona told Jesus that he makes hundreds of dollars as a Coyote and offered him to be part of the group as well as a gangster.

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Maradona and Mendez were at a dirty border motel waiting for the pollos to arrive. They  were prepared to lead a group out of Mexico.  They are targeting the area of Sonoita to cross. The group is arrested after crossing the border. Mendez is questioned by the Border Patrol, but released back into Mexico. Don Moi and his group left Veracruz to Sonoita for the next border crossing.

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Mendez is ready to lead the Wellton 26 into the U.S. However, Maradona is nowhere to be found. Therefore, Mendez is given two guides to replace Maradona, a sign of how good Maradona must have been at guiding. After walking across the border, the group crammed into a van and got a ride to where they began walking. Some started drinking the Pepsi they had brought, which was already warm from the desert heat.

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Chapter 8 described the first part of their walking journey up to Bluebird Pass. They saw lights which they suspected was the Border Patrol, so they ran and hid to avoid getting caught. However, in their haste, some of them dropped water jugs and hats, which would have been very helpful on the desert journey. As the sun begins to rise, the group is essentially lost and about to bake in the heat and sun of the day.

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On Sunday, May 20th, the group descends even further into despair. Mendez and his group are lost and the weather is scorching. Mendez had made 3 critical mistakes: the group had had too much sun exposure the day before, he starting walking too early in the day, and he took a wrong turn at Bluebird.  The chapter included a thorough description of the six stages of hyperthermia which are heat stress, heat fatigue, heat syncope, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.

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This chapter described the poor conditions of walking through the desert. The group started walking at 6 a.m. and attempted to cross over the Growler Mountains many times. Then, the group decided to rest until night-time. However, by this point the guides were disoriented and began walking in the opposite direction from the desired destination. The group arrived at a different mountain range (the Granite Mountains) but were out of water by then.

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The name of the walkers including the personalized stories of their life's situation before the walk followed by events occurred through out the walk. They were exploited by Don Moi as he charged them different amounts. Many of the men will be forced to pay back their entrance fees into the US with years of work once they cross the border.

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On May 21st, the wheels come off of the bus in the desert. Mendez and Lauro take all of their cash and leave the men behind. They promise they will be back for them with vans and water. However, the group realized that they had been abandoned and were left to die. The group decided to continue on, desperate and out of water.

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After Mendez left the walkers to die, the men started walking on their own. At one point, they saw a Migra truck on patrol, but they were unable to run fast or far enough to reach it. Over the next 24 hours though, the group fractured into small groups knowing that they will die soon anyway. They set a fire hoping the flames and smoke will be seen which would send help their way. Unfortunately, this plan fails and Edgar Martinez, Abraham Morales, Reymundo Jr., Reymundo Sr., Julian Ambrose Malaga, Rafael Temich and one nameless man all allowed the desert to claim them.

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The others are dying, but Mike F., a Border Patrol agent, is just starting his shift and leaves his home base to start looking for the men. He saw five men stumbled deliriously and he immediately gave them water. The agent calls in the Bonzai Run. Within ten minutes, the Migra is “fully engaged in rescue.” Even Mendez is found as part of the rescue operation, but Lauro isn't as lucky. Those who are alive are airlifted out to safety leaving Border Patrol to try to piece together the story of the Yuma 14/Wellton 26.

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The walkers are getting close to death. The medical systems of border towns and states are being taxed as they cross the border. The men are in the hospital recovering and being questioned by both US and Mexican authorities. They know not to snitch because they don't want payback from El Negro. Instead, they accused Mendez as the one who abandoned them.

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Rita Vargas attempted to help the Yuma 14/Wellton 26. She does what she can to keep the living in the United States and unified against Mendez. Rita escorts the dead on their transport to Tucson to perform an autopsy. While she is on her way, the men are testifying against Mendez and the federal prosecutors are looking to make an example of him. Mendez composes a letter, apologizing to the living and the dead, and attempting to declare his innocence. The letter is ineffective, and the U.S. attorney concludes that Mendez recklessly deceived and endangered the group.

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Mendez knows his life is over, though he is only nineteen years old. He refused to rat out any of the Cercas gang, and takes pride in his loyalty. Medical examiners confirm that the Yuma 14 died of exposure and hyperthermia, and then they are taken to a funeral home. In November, Mendez pleads guilty to 25 counts of smuggling. Each count carries a heavy fine, and a possible death penalty. In exchange for avoiding the maximum death penalty, Mendez admits to everything.

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The survivors stick together and demand immunity in exchange for their testimony. Nahum and his relatives are able to stay in Phoenix, and are given an apartment and gainful employment in a meat-packing plant out of the hot sun. This whole incident in the desert helped to create better relations between the United States and Mexico at the border. Unfortunately, the 9/11 situation derailed any such possibility. Individual tragedy and violence continues at the border.

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The walkers' deaths made changes on the Devil's Highway. There is new infrastructure such as safety towers, water stations, and emergency shelters that were built after that event. For example, lost walkers who come upon the tall, glimmering towers can be greeted with instruction in Spanish and in English advising them to push a button in order to ask for the Border Patrol. Urrea considers the hard facts and figures of immigration. These people actually bring far more to the economy than they take from it. They even pay their taxes by default and American jobs are not even at risk.

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Ten years have passed since this book has been published. It has been 13 years since the Yuma 14 died. It is unfortunate to say that the worst remains the same. Urrea dropped his personal agenda for the book and allowed it to become a story about all of humanity. He began to realize the ways in which blame is often mislaid in border issues, especially where the Border Patrol is concerned. As Urrea continued with his research, the Border Patrol agents were suspicious of him. He was glad that the rescuers were able to open up to him and share their story.

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Urrea revealed that he accidentally crossed paths with Don Moi. Don Moi and his henchmen came back to the village in Veracruz to try to extort the women. Luckily, the women were tough and made Don Moi fled for his life. Meanwhile, Mendez has been quiet and refused to talk to anyone. Then, Urrea revealed that Reymundo Sr.'s nephew wrote to him after the book was published. He expressed gratitude to Urrea for writing the truth of what happened to the uncle. He confessed that he also made the same journey as his uncle and survived. Now, the nephew has a Ph.D. and is a professor/scholar in world economics. He plans to save the border and to heal relations between the United States and Mexico.