Gonzaga University – English 102 (Armstrong): The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea – Character Outlines

- Decides to go north to expand and reroof his house as a gift for his wifee - planning on just going for a summer of orange picking.- He is the oldest of the group at fifty-six.- Has a fifteen-year-old son

- Fifteen-year-old son to Reymundo Barreda - a good student at the regional school and a star in the soccer league. - decides to go along with his father as a gesture of loyalty and love- Dies in father's arms

- Leads a family of human traffickers in Phoenix, Arizona. - He has contracts in Florida, Illinois, and California. - His brother is Daniel Cercas who lives in Hidalgo.

- He is the brother of Luis Cercas; his alias is "El Chespiro." (after a little red cricket on a Mexican television show)- Recruits the polleros and the guias for transport of the walkers.- Never meets with the lower-level guides in the gang face-to-face instead keeps in contact via cell phone. - All of the payments cycle through him and the payouts also move from him to the guides. - He sends people to Sonoita from all over Mexico. - Oversees El Negro and El Moreno.

- Border patrol agent at the Wellton Station in Arizona. - First to notice the five surviving men walking near Interstate 8.[-Questions the 5 men and learns about the other members of their group who are also lost. - Call into the station with his report prompts the other Patrol sectors and other agencies to come out in full force to search for the other members of the group. - This Agent and his work (because it is directly tied to the Yuma 14) is described in great detail by Urrea; his example is representative of how the Border Patrol police work in this region.

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- A recruiter for the northern Coyotes, - Said to be yet another relative of the Cercas family, which controls the trafficking from Phoenix.- Works in the state of Vera Cruz to find men and women who want to cross the border. - Walking example of success and the good life (eats well and has a strong and solid physique, which is in stark contrast to the thin men who seek more food and a better life overall) - Don drives a big American car; he is a Robin Hood figure to the men of Vera Cruz.

-25 year old male -Married to Irma- The couple have two young children and need money to pay for them to go to school.- Hoped to pick oranges in Florida to finance his family's dream of a better life-Representation of a typical walker

- 30 year old man- Married to Octavia- Travel's north to earn money to send his son, Alexis, to school [ 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 ]

- 28 year-old man from Apixtla who work as a corn farmer - In addition to his wife and daughter, he also supports his mother, two sisters, and their four daughters.

- Hopes to reach the Carolinas.

- 37 year-old - Married to Agustina- Couple decide to adopt a daughter - Goes to Don Moi for money to pay for her care.

- Soft-spoken man in his twenties,- Brother-in-law of Reymundo Sr. - A natural leader

- Works for the Cercas family and is a notorious Coyote (represents a mature Coyote in the Cercas family) - 28 years old- A dreaded enforcer and manipulator of Sonoita, Sonora. - Works his way up from an early life as a guide.

- Works with a driver called El Moreno (- Together the two men: oversee a small army of drivers, guards, enforcers, and guides. - also live together in Sonoita.- Working remotely, they stay in contact with Chespiro via cell phone. - Smugglers pay locals like drug lords do, but to cover operations.

(pay people (like the local Indians) to hide their pick up trucks and other items)- They also take care of the garbage and traces of their activities that accumulates.)- In 2002 was indicted in abstentia by a grand jury in Phoeniz- fleed 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 Vera Cruz.

- 24 year old former soldier - Plans to make money in order to build cement walls for his mother's house- Married and expecting a child

- (alias Antonio Lopez Ramos; alias Jésus)- One of the guides of the Wellton 26- 19 years old and has a punk rock hair cut & rabbit tattoo on arm- Lives with girlfriend, Celia Lomas Mendez, in Sonoita (name is in honor of girlfriend) - At first, he works at a brickyard, the San Antonio tileworks in Colonia Virreyes- Wants to earn more money to buy his mother a house - Learns about smuggling people and the higher pay from Maradona- Leads the walkers into the desert without any direction or information about where he is to take them after the group is divided- Without Maradona, he does not know what to do- With Lauro, he hikes his way out of the desert- He 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 in any event and he goes to jail

- Befriends Mendez and also works at the brickyard in San Antonio tileworks - 18 and thin and has a tattoo of Christ on his chest- Shows Mendez how to enter the world of human smuggling as a part-time Coyote- Convinces Mendez that he could make up to $1000 a week, buy whatever he wants, and have girlfriends- Works initially with Jesús (Mendez) but does not teach him all of the walking routes- When the group encounters the Border Patrol the first time, he takes off with one "pollo" and runs into the scrub

- An official from the Calexico consulate- She has movie-star looks and commands great respect- Negotiates with Border Patrol officers and other U.S.

officials- Unafraid of standing up to Border Patrol, Rita investigates the captures of illegals and investigates the deaths by ruling out murder or any foul play- Makes extraordinary efforts to return the survivors and the dead to their families in Mexico - She along with her husband, the consul for San Diego, are qualified to navigate the vagaries of migration and the borderlines- The couple oversee the region that includes Tijuana, Mexicali, and San Slui- As Calexico consul, Vargas has responsibility for the Yuma and Wellton region