# data[].attributes.headline
Chapter 1: The Rules of the Game (p.4-14)

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapter 1: The Rules of the Game (p.4-14)

# data[].attributes.body
HISTORY: The Devil's Highway is a path taken by migrants in order to make it into the United States from Mexico. The very first recorded death was on January 18, 1541. It was different than the typically imagined death on the Devil's Highway. It was an accident involving a knife and a dog, rather than the natural environment (ex: heat). Since then, and even before then, the Devil's Highway has been known to be haunted by souls of the dead, ghosts, and gods. Thousands of people have died traveling the desert, and this is evident by the cairns left behind. Despite the terrible things that have happened in the past, people are still determined to take this path today in order to create a better life for themselves in the United States.

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapter 1: The Rules of the Game (p.14-18)

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapter 1: The Rules of the Game (p.14-18)

# data[].attributes.body
GROUP OF 5: After having traveled for hours in unbearable temperatures, the migrants arrive at Vidrios Drag hoping to get caught by the Border Patrol despite their original goal being to escape them. They desperately need help since their group is dying and they ran out of food/water. They encounter a Wellton agent, agent Mike (aka agent F), who gives them water and assistance. There have been stories of Border Patrol being brutal and violent towards migrants, which causes them to fear the agent. However, agent Mike realizes the severity of the situation and believes he has to act quickly to save people in the Devil's Highway.

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapter 1: The Rules of the Game (p.18-28)

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapter 1: The Rules of the Game (p.18-28)

# data[].attributes.body
BORDER PATROL: Border Patrol agents have a reputation of being evil, violent, and unsympathetic. There have been tales of them harassing people that they find attempting to cross the border to the United States. Instead of being helpful, agents are known to just leave people in the desert to die/leave dead corpses rather than have to deal with the inconvenience of opening a new case to discover their identities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
7-23-20-Border Patrol Ramps Up Patrols in Otay Mountain Wilderness Photo 1

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapter 1: The Rules of the Game (p.28-40)

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapter 1: The Rules of the Game (p.28-40)

# data[].attributes.body
WELLTON 26/YUMA 14: The Border Patrol uses advanced technology including sensors and an approach known as "dragging" in order to track peoples' footprints on the trail. The Yuma 14 is important because it is the largest amount of deaths that occurred within one group. All of them were men and carried little to nothing with them when crossing the Devil's Highway. Their bodies, left in the sun, were in terrifying conditions and they were taken back via airplane to Mexico for their funerals. Before that, their corpses were examined by scientists to collect essential evidence, such as tattoos, and ultimately identify them.

# data[].attributes.body
Veracruz is a city located in eastern Mexico. Many of the citizens are getting their jobs stolen by illegal immigrants from Central America and are growing increasingly into poverty. As a result, they are motivated to migrate to the US after seeing the good things that their neighbors have achieved from going north. They encounter Don Moi Garcia, a coyote, who they can visibly see is wealthy and Americanized. The first few people of the Wellton 26 are Veracruz citizens looking to change their lives for the better: the Bautistas, Reymundo Barreda and Reymundo Jr., Nahum Landa, Enrique Landeros Garcia, Reyno Bartolo Hernandez, and Mario Castillo Fernandez.

# data[].attributes.body
Despite the large amount of work put in to construct the border, migrants are still able to enter the US. The signs that are used to attempt to stop the walkers are useless, since they are often unable to understand the information. The Coyotes system is very complex and there are multiple different levels, with the guias (guides) and walkers being at the very bottom. As a walker, you also have to act quickly or the Coyotes would leave you behind to die. In Don Moi's smuggling gang, it is family-run.

# data[].attributes.body
There were three guias (guides) that led the Yuma 14 to their deaths. One of them, Antonio Lopez Ramos (aka Mendez or Jesus), became infamous after the event. He writes about his own experience and explains his reasoning as to why he is involved in the smuggling business. As a guia, he and his associates were at the lowest levels of the business, just above the walkers. It is common that the guias would abandon their walkers, aka pollos, and lead them to their deaths in the Devil's Highway.

# data[].attributes.body
This chapter tells the story of Jesus, aka Antonio Lopez Ramos, and how he got involved in the smuggling operations to cross the border. He grew up poor and had dreams of buying nice things and getting his mom a house. After he met Rodrigo Maradona, he was inspired to become a Coyote. He liked the idea of being a "gangster" and getting easy money. He also viewed himself as a civil rights activist fighting against a huge problem facing his people. After his first successful trip across the border, he became very confident and definitely did not expect to face such harsh conditions when switching to the Devil's Highway.

# data[].attributes.body
Jesus Mendez and Maradona led an unsuccessful crossing when Mendez and 12 walkers got arrested. The water tank that they were using was also compromised by the Border Patrol, so it could not be used for future crossings. In this group were the 3 Manzano brothers, who wanted another chance and decided to join the May 19th crossing. In Veracruz, Don Moi and his group are boarding a bus to travel north. Many of them felt like the bus ride was an amazing experience, considering it had working toilets and air conditioning. When they arrived to Nelly's house (safe house), Don Moi had already abandoned them.

# data[].attributes.body
On the morning of May 19th, Mendez starts his day feeling horrible and tired. He isn't able to find Maradona, who was his partner that was supposed to accompany him on the crossing. Instead, Maradona is replaced by Lauro and Santos, two other polleros who won't be of much help. At the store, the pollos purchased small snacks and Pepsis for their trip to the United States. They were all crammed into a van for multiple hours until they arrived at their destination too early. Unfortunately, this was a bad sign since they now have to travel in scorching temperatures for a longer period of time.

# data[].attributes.body
The group walks for miles, with Mendez guiding them and giving everyone orders, despite being younger than almost everyone there. Mendez claims that around 11:30 PM, there were bright lights that caused the group to run and hide. However, it is unsure whether or not it was the Border Patrol because the lights turned off and drove away. If it was an agent, they most likely wouldn't have let a group of nearly 30 walkers get away. After that incident, they continued moving but in the wrong direction. The signcutters were able to figure out how and where everyone walked. They discovered that Mendez kept steering off to the left (west). Eventually, the sun was beginning to rise and the group didn't know where they were going.

# data[].attributes.body
The group continues to travel into the desert and have to face extreme temperatures that will lead to many of their deaths. There have already been stories of couples that went into the desert for fun and did not come out alive, demonstrating that the Devil's Highway does not discriminate when it comes to death. There are 6 different stages of hyperthermia: heat stress, heat fatigue, heat syncope, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. When the situation gets extreme, people often resort to drinking their own urine to survive in times where water is unavailable.

# data[].attributes.body
Mendez continues to lead the group in the wrong direction, and they quickly run out of water. Eventually, Santos suggests following their tracks back to Mexico since he believes that they will die for certain if they continue forward. Since Mendez is arrogant and cocky, he is confident that he will figure out the direction to salvation and refuses to go backwards. A group of 3 or 5 men follow Santos, but they have never been found.

# data[].attributes.body
The walker's names, background, family, and reason for wanting to come to the United States are stated. Urrea likely included this chapter to give insight into the reason why the walkers were so determined in traveling such long distances and willing to encounter fatal conditions to make it to a new country, and ultimately, some of their deaths. For example, Enrique Landeros Garcia wanted to join the walk so he could change his wife's and son's life, despite his wife telling him not to go. In addition, there is sadness behind Lauro's (one of the guias) story, since no one in the group even knew his real name. These were all real people with real dreams.

# data[].attributes.body
The group begins to lose hope when they realize that they are definitely lost in the Devil's Highway. They demand Mendez go get help and bring back water. He takes their money and Lauro with him, despite the group wanting one of the guides to stay behind with them. Mendez promises that he and Lauro will return in 5 hours with everything that the group needs. When that time, and more, has passed, the group decides to try and follow Mendez north because they would certainly die if they did not continue walking. There are also other versions of the story, one in which Mendez paints himself as the hero who suggested that he should go find help.

# data[].attributes.body
The group continues walking after being abandoned by Mendez, making it 10 miles after 12 hours. Many of the men are dying and in horrible conditions. They decide to set a fire as a beacon of help, but nobody comes to rescue them. Everyone was feeling delirious and could hardly tell what was going on anymore. On Tuesday, May 22nd, Edgar Martinez, Abraham Morales, Reymundo Jr., Reymundo Sr., Julian Ambros Malaga, and an unknown man die from hyperthermia.

# data[].attributes.body
Agent Mike F. was cutting the drag when he found the walkers. The Border Patrol trucks and helicopters scouted the area and spotted bodies, both dead and alive. They found Reyno Bartolo, Enrique Landeros, Abraham Morales Hernandez, Lorenzo Ortiz Hernandez, Claudio Alejandro Marin, Arnulfo Baldilla Flores, Reymundo Sr, Reymundo Jr, Mario Castillo Fernandez, and Lauro's (the guia's) bodies. Some of the men, including Heriberto Baldillo Tapia and Edgar Adrian Martinez, were alive to see the rescuers and helicopters but died right when they arrived. Jose Isidro Colorado was on the verge of death but managed to push forward after hearing his daughter's voice in his head. The rescued were flown out of the Devil's Highway by helicopter and saved.

# data[].attributes.body
In total, millions of dollars are spent on illegal immigrants who get close to death when attempting to cross the border, which can be really taxing for the hospitals. The surviving men are brought into a hospital in Yuma to be taken care of and restore their health. All of them had kidney damage after the long amounts of time they spent cooking under the sun in the desert. US and Mexican authorities arrive to question the men and investigate their side of the story. They all knew not to snitch on Don Moi, Chespiro, or Circas family, but they were quick to rat out Mendez.

# data[].attributes.body
Rita Vargas arrives in Yuma to help take care of the men and accompany the dead bodies to Tucson to be examined. They were put into bags and placed into trucks. Many of the men were already identified, but some of them, such as Lauro, were never identified or took a while to identify. To defend himself, Mendez writes a letter of apology. However, it seems as if he tries to make himself the victim by stating how hard his life was as a child, which then led him to join the smuggling business. He is not going to get away easily and will face prosecution for killing the walkers.

# data[].attributes.body
The dead are brought to Veracruz, where the government tries to turn the situation around and blame the United States for their deaths. Rita Vargas is upset that they made a big deal out of their arrival with cameras and speeches when in reality they don't do anything to try and fix the problem of their citizens leaving the country. The tens of thousands of dollars spent on the dead could have also been invested in fixing the community so people don't continue to leave. While this is happening, Mendez is facing prosecution and tries his best to blame Border Patrol for their deaths. He uses many instances where the Border Patrol could have ignored the walkers or did not do their job properly. In the end, Mendez pleads guilty to his crimes and spends 16 years in prison instead of facing the death penalty.

# data[].attributes.body
The survivors of the Wellton 26 are allowed into the United States and given jobs at a meatpacking plant. For a couple of months, the United States and Mexico were in good relations and supported each other, until 9/11 occurred. After that, an open border seemed like a bad idea so security was tightened and more Border Patrol officials were needed. Even so, many atrocities continue to occur at the border on the daily. There are various stories of people getting murdered and abused.

# data[].attributes.body
In the Yuma sector, many changes are made to prevent the tragedy that occurred. Water stations and safety towers are created to save immigrants lost in the desert. However, there is controversy about this decision because some people believe that the US is wasting precious money on illegal immigration. In addition, some people also believe that illegal immigrants are ruining the economy by draining money from taxpayers. Regardless of how immigrants cost the nation $55,000+ each, they have a much larger contribution and ultimately bring the US more profit than loss.

# data[].attributes.body
After 10 years of writing his book, Urrea writes a reflection. He points out a mistake he believes he made by calling the immigrants "illegal" since it paints them in a negative light. Urrea mentions changes at the border (such as an increase in security) but notices that violence and human smuggling still occur often. He also talks about how he became friendly with some of the men in the Border Patrol and does not see them as the enemy.

# data[].attributes.body
Urrea writes about some of his own experiences that connect to the border. The border makes him happy, since he is from there and can make many connections. He also mentions that there is no federal law that prohibits illegal immigration. He discovered that Don Moi attempted to go to Veracruz and steal property, but failed and was beat up by the survivors' families. Urrea was shocked when Reymundo Barrera Maruri's nephew wrote to him. The chapter ends with a light of hope since Reymundo and Reymundo Jr. inspired someone else to cross the border and they were able to do so successfully. The nephew was able to get a good education and is now a well known professor.