From Honduras to the US, a Migrant Story

 

Haydee Posadas had been waiting eight years for her son to come home.

Wilmer Gerardo Nunez left Honduras for the United States in 2010. He was 35 years old. He left his home because of gang threats, just as thousands of other people have done.

Somewhere in Mexico, Nunez disappeared.

Posadas told the Associated Press, “I am between a rock and a hard place…I know nothing about my son, whether he’s dead or alive.”

Posadas is not alone. The AP found that almost 4,000 Latin American migrants have died or gone missing along the same route in the past four years. The news agency says the real numbers might be even higher, because families may not report missing family members who were migrating¹ illegally.

Posadas and her 10 children are from the Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It is known as one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

Posadas’ son left home for the United States for the first time in the 1990s, when he was 16. Posadas had just lost her factory job. Nunez would send money back home to help. He would call her almost every day.

Nunez was deported² two times but returned to the United States each time. In 2007, he had a child with a Mexican woman, Maria Esther Lozano. When Lozano was about to give birth to another child, in July 2010, Nunez was deported for a third time.

Posadas was happy to have her son back home. He would make tasty meals with her. “He cooked better than a woman,” Posadas said.

But the family’s neighborhood had grown more dangerous over the years. Organized crime moved in. One time, men who claimed to be police locked her daughter to iron bars in the house and shot one of Posadas’ grandsons. The men suspected the boy was involved with gangs. Other times there were shootouts in the streets.

In order to survive in the neighborhood, Posadas said, “If you saw it, you didn’t see it. If you heard it, you didn’t hear it. And everyone keeps quiet.”

Posadas said things were so bad that Nunez almost never went outside the house. He told his mom that he was afraid and that he wanted to get back to California to meet his new daughter.

After just a few days in San Pedro Sula and after a possible threat from gang members, Nunez left earlier than he planned.

In the past, Nunez had crossed into the U.S. at the border in California. But this time, he had an injured foot. He planned to cross at the border in Texas. The route is shorter but also more dangerous.

He let Lozano know about his plan. He called her on the phone almost every day using the phone of the smuggler³ taking the migrant group across the border.

About a week after leaving home, Nunez spoke⁴ with his mother for the last time. He asked her to pray that everything would turn out well. A day later, he called Lozano. He seemed calm and happy.

The group made it to Piedras Negras, across from the Texas town of Eagle Pass. Lozano was told to wait for a phone call, then she could pay the smuggler half the money -- about $3,000. Then she needed to wait for another call from Nunez’s sister to confirm his safe arrival before paying the remaining $3,000.

The calls never came. Lozano never heard from Nunez. The smuggler told her they were still waiting to cross. Then the phone went unanswered.

Another week went by. Then, Posadas saw on television news that authorities had found the bodies of 72 migrants on a large farm in San Fernando, Mexico, across the border from Texas.

Posadas says she started to cry “like a crazy person. There were no names, but I was shaken.”

An investigation⁵ found that drug gang members had stopped two large trucks filled with migrants in northern Mexico. The migrants were taken to the farm and asked to join the gang.

Only one of the migrants agreed. The rest were blindfolded⁶, tied up and shot dead. Among the identified victims were two neighbors who had left with Nunez. But there was no sign of Nunez.

Nunez’s father offered his genetic⁷ material, or DNA⁸, to be compared with the unidentified bodies. But still, Nunez was not found.

Posadas and Lozano began looking for Nunez in prisons, holding centers and hospitals. They contacted Mexican, Honduran and Ecuadorian authorities many times. Yet, they still found nothing.

After years of searching, Posadas thought that she would never find an answer to what happened to her son.

Posadas had no way to know, but she could have had her answer just days after the mass killing⁹.

The official report on the mass killing on the San Fernando farm stated that body number 63 was a male with body art, including a tattoo¹⁰ of Nunez’s son’s name. The report also noted¹¹ the body was found with a Honduran driver’s license¹², with the name Wilmer Gerardo Nunez Posadas on it.

But that information was not released. Body number 63 was buried in a common grave.

In September 2013, an international team of experts began to identify more than 200 bodies from three mass killings¹³, including the one in San Fernando.

Late last year, a team from Argentina, with the help of the Catholic¹⁴ Church, was able to reach Posadas to tell her about body number 63. They also collected DNA to confirm the identity of Nunez. Posadas learned in May that the DNA test confirmed his identity.

No one has been charged with the killings at San Fernando. Nine bodies are still unidentified. Mexican officials did not comment.

On October 31, the body of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez came home to Honduras. When the box containing his body was opened at a local morgue, the smell of death filled the room.

Posadas said, “My heart hurt so much ... most of all because of the death he suffered, not even knowing who killed him, with his eyes blindfolded, hands tied ...”

I'm Caty Weaver¹⁵. And I'm Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

route - n. a way that someone regularly travels along

smuggler - n. a person who move someone or something from one country into another illegally and secretly

authorities - n. people who have power to make decisions and enforce rules of laws

blindfolded - adj. having the eyes covered by a piece of cloth

morgue - n. a place where the bodies of dead people are kept

1 migrating   

v.迁移，移往( migrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mudflats offer a winter home to thousands of migrating swans. 泥滩成为成千上万只迁徙的天鹅越冬的场所。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many Asians are migrating to the West. 许多亚洲人移民去了西方国家。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 blindfolded   

v.（尤指用布）挡住（某人）的视线( blindfold的过去式 )；蒙住（某人）的眼睛；使不理解；蒙骗

参考例句：

• The hostages were tied up and blindfolded. 人质被捆绑起来并蒙上了眼睛。
• They were each blindfolded with big red handkerchiefs. 他们每个人的眼睛都被一块红色大手巾蒙住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

8 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

13 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

14 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

15 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。