2002. He flees the border and lives a colorful life back in Mexico, taunting the law and his indictment. Local newspapers report him playing soccer and popping up all over Mexico, including back in Veracruz.

Mendez (Antonio “Jésus” Lopez Ramos)

Antonio Lopez Ramos, nicknamed “Jésus” and aliased “Mendez,” is one of the guides of the Wellton 26. Mendez is nineteen years old and has a punk-rock haircut and a rabbit tattoo on his arm. He enjoys music, especially rock. He and his friends listen to Mexican, Latin-American, and Chicano bands, which gives him and his friends a pseudo-education in rebelliousness. He lives with his girlfriend, Celia Lomas Mendez, in Sonoita, Arizona. They sleep on a mattress on the cement floor. He uses the name Mendez in honor of his girlfriend. At first, he works at a brickyard. He is struggling and wants to earn more money to buy his mother a house. 

When he meets Maradona, he learns about the trade of smuggling people, which is illicit but brings in higher pay. During the expedition from Wellton, he leads the walkers into the desert without any direction or information about where to take them after the group is divided. Without Maradona, Mendez does not know what to do, and the group soon becomes completely lost in the Cabeza Prieta desert. With Lauro, he hikes his way out of the desert. Mendez survives and Lauro dies. In a plea statement, he describes in great detail the challenges of the walk and his goal to find help for his walkers. A judge finds him guilty, and he ends up in jail.

Rita Vargas

Rita Vargas is the Mexican consul for Calexico, California. She has movie-star looks and commands great respect for her work. She and her husband, the consul for San Diego, are qualified to navigate the vagaries of migration and the borderlines. She and her husband oversee the region that includes Tijuana, Mexicali, and San Luis. As Calexico consul, Vargas has responsibility for the nearby Arizona region that includes Yuma and Wellton, because that region has no Mexican consulate. 

When the survivors of the Wellton 26 are found, Vargas is summoned to the scene to sort out the fates of the survivors and the deceased. In her dealings, she negotiates with Border Patrol officers and other US officials. Unafraid of standing up to Border Patrol, Rita investigates the deaths by ruling out murder or any foul play. She makes great efforts to return the survivors and the dead to their families in Mexico.

Luis Cercas

Luis leads a family of human traffickers in Phoenix, Arizona. He has contracts in Florida, Illinois, and California. His brother is Daniel “El Chespiro” Cercas, who lives in Hidalgo. Luis’s trafficking organization leads the Wellton 26 from Mexico to the US.

Mike F.

Mike F. is a border patrol agent at the Wellton Station in Arizona. He is the first to notice the five lost men walking near Interstate 8t. He questions the men and learns about the other members of their group who are also lost. His call into the station prompts the other Patrol sectors and other agencies to come out in full force to search for the other members of the group. Mike F. and his work is described in great detail by Urrea, because his actions are so central to the narrative of the Yuma 14. Mike’s methods are representative of how the Border Patrol police work in this region.

Nahum Landa

A soft-spoken man in his twenties, Nahum is the brother-in-law of Reymundo Sr. He is a natural leader. Nahum survives the ordeal of the Devil’s Highway and thus serves as a significant source of information and insight for the book. This information comes from the testimony he delivered as part of an immunity deal he struck. As a result of that deal, Nahum stayed in the US, settling in Phoenix with his family.

Roberto Maradona

Roberto Maradona befriends Mendez and works at the same brickyard. He is eighteen and thin, with a tattoo of Christ on his chest. He shows Mendez how to enter the world of human smuggling as a part-time Coyote. He convinces Mendez that he could make up to $1000 a week, buy whatever he wants, and have girlfriends. Maradona works initially with Mendez but does not teach him all of the walking routes. When the group encounters the Border Patrol the first time, Maradona takes off with one “pollo” and runs into the scrub. The two men continue on to Phoenix. Mendez and his group of twelve are later apprehended.

Mario Castillo Fernandez

A young man of twenty-five, Mario is married to Irma. They have two young children and are facing the prospect of paying for them to go to school. Mario sets north across the border to pick oranges in Florida and thereby finance his dream. Mario represents a typical walker—a young man seeking a better life for himself and his family. Mario has worked as a laborer before, as both a coffee and citrus plantation worker.

Enrique Landeros García

Enrique is a thirty-year-old man who is married to a woman named Octavia. Their son is named Alexis. Octavia and Enrique cannot afford to send their son to school. This is Enrique’s motivation for traveling north. He is one of three brothers who decide to carry on with the walk after he is apprehended by the Border Patrol. He and his brothers return to work in the Baja and make another attempt during the Wellstone 26 tragedy. He is part of Don Moi’s group on the bus and later joins Jesús.

Rafael Temich González

Rafael is a twenty-eight-year-old corn farmer from Apixtla. He takes care of an extended family. In addition to his wife and daughter, he also supports his mother, two sisters, and their four daughters. After crossing the border, he hopes to reach the Carolinas.

Reyno Bartolo Hernandez

Reyno Bartolo Hernandez is a thirty-seven-year-old man married to a woman named Agustina. They decide to adopt a daughter, and Reyno goes to Don Moi for money to pay for her care.

Julian Ambros Malaga

Julian Ambros Malaga is a twenty-four-year-old former soldier. He plans to make money so that he can build cement walls for his mother’s house. He is married and expecting a child.