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THE PAST:  Many migrants would use the Devil's Highway to illegally cross into the United States from Mexico. Locals say this area is haunted by gods, animals like Chupacabras and ghosts, and the thousands of souls who have perished along this route owing to the severe desert circumstances since the first recorded death on January 18, 1541. Hundreds of people are killed every year on the highway as they attempt to enter the United States in quest of a better life.

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Chapter 1: Rules of the game ( pg. 14-18)

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Chapter 1: Rules of the game ( pg. 14-18)

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BODIES: The guys who escaped the group are lost, dehydrated, and on the verge of dying from the heat. They arrived at Vidrios Drag with the hopes of finding Border Patrol. The men are looking for assistance for themselves before dispatching operatives to locate the folks they left behind. "Seventeen. Then there's thirty. Seventy bodies, according to one man, had fallen behind them." The guys are discovered by Agent F., alias Mike, who recognizes the gravity of the situation and decides that he must move quickly to save lives and recover bodies.

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Chapter 1: Rules of the game (pg. 18-28)

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Chapter 1: Rules of the game (pg. 18-28)

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AGENTS: Border Patrol agents aren't always the most honest or upstanding people when it comes to the people they arrest and rescue on the outside of the United States. These agents are unpopular in the community, and many of them are ex-military, which means they are stiff and obstinate. Agents have been accused of harassing and abusing their detainees, leaving remains in the desert to rot rather than filling up paperwork if the bodies are collected.

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DEATHS: The notion of "dragging" is explained in detail in order to illustrate how Border Patrol searches the ground for evidence that people are walking on the Devil's Highway. The rest of the chapter details the terrible killings of their 14 comrades in the desert, as discovered by Agent Mike F. As they are examined and brought to Mexico, their remains have been roasted by the sun and are barely recognizable.

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Veracruz has a failing economy that is impoverishing its population. As a result, many males in this state leave and travel to El Norte in order to send money home. In this chapter, Don Moi, the fat, Americanized coyote contact, is introduced, and he arranges for the Bautista Boys which are Reymundo Barreda and his son, Nahum Landa, Enrique Landeros Garcia, Reyno Bartolo Hernandez, and Mario Castillo Fernandez, all Veracruz residents, to travel north in the hopes of making some money.

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The coyote group is well aware that the US/Mexican border has numerous holes. The coyotes are well-organized and gang-like in their approach to overseeing and controlling all border crossings. This chapter discusses Don Moi's crew's structure, the family ties among the members, and how expendable both the walkers and the guides (or guias) are to them....

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Antonio Lopez Ramos, called Mendez aka Jesus, is the guia who guided the Yuma 14/Wellton 26 along the Devil's Highway in this chapter. Guias are the most basic level of the smuggling operation, and they are often as disposable as the pollos they transport. Many stories were told about guias abandoning their pollos and not caring if they live or die.

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The guia explained it well.  jesus ,He is poor as a child and works in a tile factory until he meets Rodrigo Maradona, who introduces him to the mafia world. He enjoys the lifestyle, believes he is significant, and sees himself as a rebel who defies authority by sneaking individuals into the United States. As he leads the Yuma 14/Wellton 26 onto the Devil's Highway, he has no idea who he's up against.

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Mendez and Maradona are stuck in a filthy border hotel, waiting for their pollos. When they eventually arrive, the two guias lead their last group over the border BEFORE the Yuma 14/Wellton 26, only to be apprehended. Don Moi is on his way to Sonoita with the 26 recruits for the next border crossing, which is slated to leave on May 19th.

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On the morning of Saturday, May 19th, Mendez wakes up hungover and agitated. He can't find his guia companion, Maradona, so he's now walking his pollos down the Devil's Highway with Lauro and Santos, both of whom he considers to be useless. When the pollos arrive at the border, they stumble off the bus, pepsi and goodies in hand, ready to stroll across the border to salvation. They arrive early on the Devil's Highway, which worries Mendez because he knows the heat will make them hot and sick faster. This day and this vacation are off to a bad start in every way....

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The journey across the Devil's Highway begins for the group. At 11:30 p.m., some strange lights startle Mendez, prompting the gang to flee. They go off the rails after that, despite Mendez's refusal to admit it. Border Patrol even records their whereabouts in the days after they've been rescued to corroborate this. Mendez continues to drift to the left, causing the guys to deviate to the west. They're almost to the finish line, but Homie has lost his way! The gang is virtually off course as the sun rises, and they are ready to burn in the heat and sun of the day....NO BUENO!

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The group sinks even deeper into misery on Sunday, May 20th. The dawn is rising and they are LOST. Over the next few hours or days, the extreme heat will claim the lives of 12 of them. The author tells the account of two white couples who met the same end as our soldiers in the desert. The moral of the story is that the desert ALWAYS triumphs, regardless of age, ethnicity, sex, color, or other factors. After that, the author talks over the six phases of hyperthermia, or death from heat exposure. Stages in which are
1. heat exhaustion - fatigued, dizzy, and dehydrated
2. heat exhaustion - the body begins to burn and loses all moisture.
3. heat syncope - the skin becomes chilly and pallid, and disorientation sets in.
4. heat cramps - pain, cramps

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Mendez is completely lost and he's bringing the rest of the team down with him. The walkers' behavior begins to deteriorate as they become frustrated and realize they are going towards death rather than salvation. Three maybe more soldiers branch off from the party pursuing Santos into the desert when tensions approach a breaking point. The Santos gang has never been apprehended.

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This chapter focuses on the men in the gang. Their entire names are revealed, as well as their backgrounds and motivations for coming to the United States. Don Moi clearly exploited them, as he charged them varying sums, and many of the men will be compelled to repay their entrance fees into the United States with years of hard labour and heavy labor after they cross the border. The author included this chapter because he is he wants us to get the idea that maybe some of them will not make it further in the story like others will.

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The wheels come off the bus in the desert on Monday, May 21st. Mendez has no idea where he is, and the walkers have finally realized it. They begin to push back against him and Lauro, demanding water and that they be led to civilisation. Mendez and Lauro, on the other hand, steal all of the men's money and leave them behind. They say they'll be returning with vans and water for them. The men are well aware that this is a fabrication and that they have been abandoned in the desert to perish. The walkers gather their remaining power and began marching north, knowing that Mendez was on his way to find shelter and avoid them.

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They're in poor shape, but they made it ten miles from where Mendez dropped them off. The group continues to fracture during the next 24 hours, as the guys are in various degrees of mental and physical decline. In a last-ditch effort, they light fires in the hopes that the flames and smoke will attract help. Unfortunately, this strategy fails, and by the end of the day on Tuesday, May 22nd, Edgar Martinez, Abraham Morales, Reymundo Jr., Reymundo Sr., Julian Ambrose Malaga, Rafael Temich, and one unidentified man had all succumbed to the elements.

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finally things settled down! For the men who are left in the desert, Wednesday, May 23rd is either death or salvation day. When Agent Mike F. is cutting the drag, he notices new signs that lead him to the men. Unfortunately, some guys survive long enough to see La Migra and the helicopters, but they die just as rescue arrives. Even Mendez is discovered during the rescue mission, but Lauro is not so fortunate. Those who are still alive are evacuated to safety, leaving Border Patrol to piece the Yuma 14/Wellton 26 story together.

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walkers are driven to the point of death while crossing, have put a strain on border towns' and states' medical systems. Every year, millions of dollars are spent on the upkeep of these pollos, and the Yuma 14 are no exception. The men are recovering in a hospital and are being interrogated by US and Mexican authorities. They know not to snitch because they don't want El Negro to retaliate, but they take great pleasure in pointing the finger at Mendez as the one who abandoned them to die.

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Rita Vargas goes above and beyond to assist the Yuma 14/Wellton 26 team. While she accompanies the dead on their journey to Tucson to be autopsied, she does everything she can to keep the living in the United States and united against Mendez. Meanwhile, things do not appear to be going well for old Mendez. The men are testifying against him, and federal prosecutors want to use him as a scapegoat. His feeble letter, prepared to describe his terrible life and how he ended up in the desert, does little to aid his argument. For Mendez, things could become a lot worse....

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Mendez is being investigated for his role in the Yuma 14/Wellton 26 disaster. He refused to inform on the group, knowing that if he did, they would kill his mother and lover. Meanwhile, the 14 bodies that have been identified are returned to Veracruz for a hero's procession and funeral. Thousands of dollars are spent getting them home, money that may be better spent helping the community so that others don't make the same mistakes they did. Mendez initially intended to fight the allegations, but in an unexpected turn of events, he pleads guilty to lesser charges. This guarantees that he will remain in the United States for at least 16 years, alive and free of gang retaliation.

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While Mendez languishes in prison, the other men who survived and testified against him are allowed to remain in the United States and are even given work in a meat packing plant, ensuring that they will never again be exposed to the scorching heat. UNTIL 9.11, the incident in the desert served to improve ties between the US and Mexico at the border. Security was tightened after that, and border agencies were reorganized to work more closely together to safeguard the borders from all threats. Since then, the border has been overrun with walkers and coyotes, as well as animosity between law enforcement personnel from both countries. Sadly, deaths, kidnappings, and torture continue to occur at the border...

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The Devil's Highway had significant alterations as a result of the walkers' deaths. Soon after the incident, new safety towers, water stations, and emergency shelters were built. That did not sit well with everyone, particularly those who believe that undocumented immigrants are a drain on the system and cost taxpayers more than $55,000 per. Urrea dissected the statistics to show that these individuals contribute significantly more to the economy than they detract from it. This is still a contentious issue today.

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This section is a ten-year reflection by the author on the book. He considers how his usage of the word "illegal" creates a negative and divisive image among Americans. Even if the number of persons attempting to enter the US has declined, Urrea describes how the US has toughened up border security by deploying many more agents and more in-depth patrols. Violent border crimes, on the other hand, have not decreased. Over the last ten years, human smuggling and gangland-style murders have increased at an exponential rate, which is a frightening fact.

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According to Urrea, there is no federal statute prohibiting illegal immigration. In a speech, President Bush stated that it is more of a business legislation, equivalent to a speeding ticket. He also recounts his encounter with Don Moi and the pain Moi attempted to put on the survivors' families. They fought back and were victorious! He also highlights his own heartfelt ties to the border, as well as one final success story resulting from the tragedy: Reymundo Srnephew .'s immigrated to the United States and became a successful professor. A hopeful and somewhat cheerful conclusion to a bleak narrative.