SAN ANTONIO — After 53 migrants were found dead in an 18-wheeler on a scorching summer day this time last year, a memorial was erected to honor their lives. Despite being a place for people to pay their respects, the site has been vandalized and even set on fire.
KENS 5 reporter Allysa Tellez introduces us to a man who looks after the memorial, visiting at least once day.
“Every day. Every day.”
Along Quintana Road, in front of the bustling trains and tall weeds, stands a makeshift memorial where 53 people, with hope for a life in the United States, died in the suffocating heat of a trailer.
Memorial for 53 migrants on Quintana Road
“We regret it. It’s terrible because of the way… of the way they died," said Roberto Cristian Rodriguez.
For some, the site comes with a sort of heaviness… the pain.
But by now, Rodriguez knows it well.
“I’m already used to this era. I’m already used to this environment," said Rodriguez.
The way the wind blows through the pride of each country’s flag, the flowers adorn each cross or how a bible sits propped open with a rock, offering those who believe solace and protection.
“I’m from Honduras and in Honduras, we don’t understand a lot about the Virgin Mary," said Rodriguez. "That is, there are Catholics, but I’m not Catholic. But I respect it."
But every day, sometimes even twice, Rodriguez looks after the site with care.
“I’m in charge of doing what needs to be done here," said Rodriguez.
He does so for several reasons. Twenty years ago, he made the same dangerous journey to the United States and nearly died. But he also knows the family of some of the victims: Gustavo Santillan, Alejandro Caballero, and Margie Paz.
“She always calls and tells me that she knows I don’t have family here, but look, you do me a favor since I can’t go," said Rodriguez. "Clean it, take flowers. And that’s what I tell the contributors. That at least we make sure we realize that there are people in our countries that can’t come and we are here. We can give a little time to help that family.”
Paving the way for other visitors, Rodriquez says people are always coming by to pay their respects.
“From different places," said Rodriguez. "Yesterday, yesterday a family from laredo visited us.”
But there are times when these visits go unwanted. San Antonio Police and fire have responded to the memorial at least seven times in the last year. The memorial has been vandalized, and even set on fire by a woman in her forties back in November of last year.
She told investigators she was doing “God’s work.”
It forced Rodriguez and other volunteers to make the repairs.
"Don’t treat them like bad people but people with serious problems and people with problems will make mistakes," said Rodriguez. “Have a moment of awareness.”
With faith and determination, Rodriguez still has plans for the memorial. He wants to build a mural that will include the faces, names and the places each victim came from.
“So we need volunteers to help us," said Rodriguez. "More than anything, we need more material and manual labor.”
For Rodriguez, the tragedy is a reminder of the ongoing danger of human trafficking.
“They’re not cattle," said Rodriguez. "They’re not birds. They’re humans just like them.”
And a reminder that life is filled with heartbreak.
"We must overcome them anyway," said Rodriguez. "That’s life and that’s normal.”
But this is a place to remember.
“We need to make sure we remember it’s a tragedy we regret and will regret," said Rodriguez.