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[Applause]
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we're in comitancio
at least 3 000 people probably more have
arrived here they're basically here to
pay tribute to 13 migrants
from the town these migrants left here
two months ago to the day
in search of the american dream and
right now they're returning
but in caskets
a bombshell in mexico
the killing and burning of 19 people
among them guatemalan migrants
was perpetrated by police
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personnel
most of the victims in the attack were
young in their teens and early 20s
on their way to the u.s for the first
time in search of work
but not edgar lopez
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edgar lopez was 49 and had spent half
his life in mississippi
he was returning home to his family
his um grandsons and granddaughters
he always been there for them
as a dad what was he like how did he
interact with you
he was a good dad
not a very good dad but an awesome dad
he always
been the person where he always made
that phone call every single day
making sure that i'm okay making sure
that my brother's okay
or my sister and now that he's not here
anymore it's like
you you missed that phone call it makes
me feel in with
anger
sadness of the way he had suffered
lopez died in that massacre but the
story of his death began in the u.s
with his arrest a year and a half
earlier
a federal prosecutor calling it the
largest single state
immigration raid in history ice agents
surrounding food processing plants in
mississippi
arresting 680 people children coming
home after their first day back at
school
learning one of their parents was among
the hundreds detained
we're not directing this at any
particular group or anything like that
as i said earlier if we find that
employers have violated federal criminal
law
we'll go after them as well
were you in touch with him the day of
the raid
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when
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so
would you state your full name please
we retraced what happened to lopez
following his arrest
mr lopez what is your age
around half of those arrested during the
raids were immediately released
but not lopez do you know when mr
lopez was first removed from the united
states he was removed december 1st
of 1997. and was he removed because
he was illegally in the united states at
that time
yes sir lopez had been deported 22 years
earlier following a raid at a different
poultry plant
by returning he had committed a felony
re-entering the country illegally
his daughter evelyn testified on his
behalf i'll be responsible for
everything i'll take my dad
whenever it's court date and pay for his
mind
you have any reason to believe your dad
would not show her up for court
no he'll show up he's responsible for
everything
and the judge was convinced this
defendant according to the audience has
lived in this community
for more than 20 years and he's never
and there's no evidence before the court
that he has ever had so much as a
parking ticket
the court finds that he does not present
a risk of flight and therefore should be
released
to go home to his family but instead of
being released
ice transferred him to a privately owned
detention facility
it's a controversial but legal practice
because lopez was undocumented
ice had the final word ice declined to
comment on lopez's case
that's the first time in my career i'm
overseeing a judge
a federal judge order someone released
and they weren't
it's almost like ice was insistent
that these people picked up in the raids
were going to be deported
apparently in these quote unquote
chicken raid cases
you know we had
it was happening a lot i mean you're a
lawyer you're part of the legal system
and you're representing this man where
the deck is stacked against him
what was that like to be in that legal
system that you are charged with
enforcing
well i felt like i was on the right side
of it but i was also part of the process
i think the whole situation was shameful
i think the whole thing was a sid
after three months behind bars lopez
pleaded guilty to re-entering the
country without permission
we are before the court our anticipated
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changes
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foreign
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what i need to know is how do you plead
through the charge guilty or not
guilty
lopez lopez's guilty plea cleared the
way for his deportation
even the judge was powerless to stop it
we have done nothing similarly in the
last 20 years
we certainly have done nothing which
requires that we be removed or separated
from our families
for the rest of our lives unfortunately
mr lopez
i'm not here to make the laws i'm here
to interpret the laws and follow the law
as best as i can i mean i have to
sentence you
i appreciate the love of my country that
you've shown today
and it hurts my heart to see what this
great nation is doing to you at this
point in time
the judge sentenced lopez to just one
day in prison
ice kept him in custody until deporting
him in july of 2020
nearly one year after his arrest
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i wanted to see the place where edgar
worked when he was picked up
so many members of the community still
work in these poultry plants
despite the threat of being arrested for
being undocumented
at least 230 people were also deported
as a result of the raids
not a single one of the plants was ever
charged or even fined
yeah it's hard for me to understand
the situation what they have done to him
were you in touch with him when he was
in guatemala yes
at the beginning he had told me he was
not coming back
because he was afraid that he will
go through that same process again get
deported or be in jail for a very long
time
i just told him just take your time but
he says
no i want to be there early that way i
don't have to wait for a long time to be
with the family
to be with the kids
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after six months in his hometown lopez
hired smugglers to take him back to the
us
the alleged smugglers were part of a
family long involved in local politics
the father david coronado had even run
for mayor
coronado has denied working as a
smuggler but the other migrants on the
trip
went into debt to pay what their
relatives say was coronado's fourteen
thousand dollar fee
we spoke to the families to piece
together the days leading up to the
massacre
osmar is
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foreign in the early hours of january
13th
the group set off from mexico crammed
into two suvs
they sent messages to their families
along the way
we are exchanging our money we just left
my phone credit ran out please had some
money the smuggler says
the same number will work in mexico
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from
the group left san luis potosi on
january 20th arriving two days later in
camargo tamolipas
as u.s and mexican authorities have
cracked down on migrants
they're taking more and more dangerous
routes
this year
in mississippi evelyn also received a
message from her dad
friday morning he had texted me at 7 30
saying that he was
close by he was almost he's like really
close to
rio grande i told him that we're at
what part and he said
he never answered me that was the last
message that i received from my dad
just hours later police officers
murdered lopez and the other migrants
according to prosecutors their charred
bodies were found 13 miles south of the
u.s border
vice news obtained exclusive footage of
closed hearings in the case
of
is twelve police officers were charged
with the massacre
three had been trained by the u.s
government including the regional
coordinator of the state police
she took classes on human rights and
police ethics
u.s officials maintain all the officers
were vetted beforehand
the 12 cops haven't yet pleaded innocent
or guilty
but they initially told prosecutors they
came upon the crime scene
after the massacre a defense attorney
questioned the reliability of the
evidence
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and prosecutors haven't offered a motive
for the massacre
only suggesting it's linked to rival
cartels fighting for control
the case is ongoing
criminals
just four months later the governor
himself was ordered arrested
for alleged ties to organized crime
accusations he denies
the arrival of the victims bodies in
guatemala was a national affair
even the president showed up
neglected by their government in life
the migrants received a hero's welcome
in death
the rage ultimately ended in lopez's
death
he never made it back to mississippi
in his birthplace the entire village
shared in the grief
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mariah
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evelyn and her younger brother darby
flew to guatemala for their dad's burial
it was her first time outside the
country
their mom couldn't leave the us she
watched the burial
on facebook live
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uh
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amen
um
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yellow
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you