A group of migrants holding onto each other as they are swept downstream while attempting to cross into Eagle Pass, Texas. — Reuters
THE journey of Rossanna and Widman began in the Guatemalan village of San Juan La Laguna, on the turquoise Lake Atitlan, where they met when he bought the tortillas she was selling for lunch.
It ended in the murky waters of the Rio Grande.
The couple drowned as they tried to wade across the notorious part of the river that links Piedras Negras, Mexico, with Eagle Pass, Texas, on Feb 24, just two among the hundreds of people who lose their lives trying to cross into the US every year.
In June, relatives collected Widman’s casket from Guatemala City and carried it back along the winding highland roads to his hometown of Yepocapa in a white Mitsubishi van and then to his final resting place.
Dozens of community members filed through the streets to mourn the popular 26-year-old, often called by his middle name Alex.
Rossanna, his 25-year-old partner, was buried in San Juan La Laguna, near her family.
In the Guatemalan highlands, the US politics about immigration and the salvos about who is doing what to secure the border are far away.
For the people there, the story is simply that of two of their young who left to seek a better life and earn some money in “El Norte” and came back in boxes in the back of a van.
“She wanted to be a chef but we didn’t have the money for her to study,” said Francisca, Rossanna’s mother.
“That’s why she wanted to go to the USA. She was going to work in a restaurant. I didn’t want her to leave but she insisted that five years would give her and Alex the opportunity to raise money to build their own house and open a restaurant here.”
Francisca showing photos of her daughter Rossanna. — Reuters
Widman was the eldest of 10 children, his family said at his funeral. He was quiet, respectful and volunteered at the local church.
After leaving school he began working in construction, taking pride in doing finish work and seeing each project come together.
Although the number of people apprehended by US Border Patrol attempting to cross has declined in recent months, increased security on the US-Mexican border in recent years has pushed migrants to take increasingly perilous routes, migration advocates say.
Grupo Beta, which assists migrants on the Mexican side of the border, says it rescued 450 people whose lives were in danger during the first seven months of 2024 and recovered 34 bodies.
Most migrants use “coyotes” – smugglers. Rossanna and Widman travelled with Alfredo, Rossanna’s father, who paid coyotes to take them across Mexico.
In the early evening of Feb 24, the three approached the river at Piedras Negras carrying their belongings, accompanied by a coyote and two other migrants.
Rossanna was the last of the group to enter the water, according to a Reuters photographer who was at the scene.
At first she was nervous but excited, and Widman smiled as he encouraged her. It soon became clear the current was strong and the group lost their footing and returned to the Mexican side.
Then they decided to try again.
The mood was more sombre. A US National Guard officer arrived on the opposite bank and shouted at them in Spanish through a megaphone to return, telling them the river was dangerous.
It was too late.
family members carrying the body of Widman. — Reuters
Again, as they reached the centre they lost their footing, became separated, and were dragged away by the current.
Alfredo and the two other migrants managed to climb out of the river onto the Mexican bank, while the coyote was pulled out almost dead and revived by a rescuer.
By now, night was falling and first responders were on the scene.
Another migrant, a woman from Colombia who attempted the crossing separately, was rescued after grabbing hold of a stick held by a police officer.
There was no sign of Widman or Rossanna.
Back home in Yepocapa, Widman’s father Onofre was desperately trying to reach his son.
“Reply,” he texted. “Tell me you’re OK.” “Please call me.” His calls went unanswered.
Rossanna’s body was found the next day on the Mexican side of the river.
In a daze, Alfredo identified his daughter and then returned to his home in Guatemala. Her body was returned to her family several weeks later.
Widman’s body was found on the US side and returned four months later, after much bureaucratic wrangling.
Now Alfredo – who faces years of debt to work off the cost of the doomed trip to the US – works on a farm in San Juan La Laguna.
He has a five-year-old son, Hageo, who he helps dress in the morning.
Hageo will grow up to know his older sister only from her photo – smiling and dressed in colourful local clothing – that hangs in the family home.
In Widman’s home, the frame that holds his photo on the mantelpiece is turned backwards, a frame around blank cardboard.
His mother is not yet able to face it. It brings her too much pain. — Reuters
