Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Devil's Highway : A True Story

The Devil's Highway : A True Story
The Devil's Highway A True Story
Author: Luis Alberto Urrea
So many illegal immigrants die in the desert Southwest of the U.S. that only notorious catastrophes make headlines. Urrea reconstructs one such incident in the Sonoran Desert, the ordeal of sun and thirst of two dozen men in May 2001, half of whom suffered excruciating deaths. They came from Vera Cruz; their so-called guide came from Guadalajara...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780316010801
ISBN-10: 0316010804
Publication Date: 9/19/2005
Pages: 272
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 46

4 stars, based on 46 ratings
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 4
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Devil's Highway : A True Story on
Helpful Score: 6
"The Devil's Highway" really took me by surprise. I will admit that the first part of this book was extremely difficult for me to read because Luis Alberto Urrea's writing was very fragmented and it was unclear where the story was going. It wasn't until I made it past this portion of the book that it became exceedingly more interesting and began to tell the story of those that crossed the Devil's Highway - I was hooked and wanted to keep reading.

An insightful and thought provoking book, with a very in-depth account of one particular journey across the southern border of the United States. Definitely would recommend this read to anyone interested in U.S./Mexico border issues.
animlgrl avatar reviewed The Devil's Highway : A True Story on + 84 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Living in AZ, where illegal immigration is a hot topic, this story truly opened my eyes to the fact that this is NOT a black and white issue.
perryfran avatar reviewed The Devil's Highway : A True Story on + 1167 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
"Five men stumbled out of the mountain pass so sunstruck they didn't know their own names, couldn't remember where they'd come from, had forgotten how long they'd been lost. One of them wandered back up a peak. One of them was barefoot. They were burned nearly black, their lips huge and cracking, what paltry drool still available to them spuming from their mouths in a salty foam as they walked. Their eyes were cloudy with dust, almost too dry to blink up a tear. Their hair was hard and stiffened by old sweat, standing in crowns from their scalps, old because their bodies were no longer sweating. They were drunk from having their brains baked in the pan, they were seeing God and Devils, and they were dizzy from drinking their own urine, the poisons clogging their systems."

This first paragraph really sets the tone for this mesmerizing account of a specific horrific incident that occurred on the U.S./Mexican border in 2001. Urrea writes about what happened to a group of men who attempted to cross the border into the desert of southern Arizona through the deadliest region of the continent known as "the Devil's Highway." He tells the story of the group and their origins, most of who had been recruited by an unethical man in Veracruz, Mexico, who promised them a new start in El Norte. The men had to borrow to pay extravagant amounts to ride a bus through Mexico City and on to the far north border towns where they were dumped and left in the hands of the "coyotes" to get them across the border. But one of the guias (guides) who was to take them through the desert didn't show up which left a very inexperienced guia to show them across. The group was lost in the desert with temperatures soaring to over 105 degrees and out of a group of 26, 14 perished. This incident brought national attention to the plight of immigrants at the border.

Urrea tells the story from both the immigrants side who were known as pollos to their guides and from the point of view of the Border Patrol (BP) and agents who ended up finding the survivors and taking them to be cared for at local hospitals. The immigrants were basically duped into going north for a new life but the BP did do all that they could to help them when they were found stranded in the desert. Later they also took steps to help others by installing signal towers along the way that they could use for guidance.

Urrea really makes a case for opening the border and doing more to help people who want to come to America for a better life. He cites several studies that show that illegal immigrants actually add to our economy through their payment of Federal, State, and local taxes. The Mexican consul on the case also pointed out that the costs to hospitalize the survivors and to take care of the dead victims was very costly. She asks "what if somebody had simply invested that amount of money in their villages to begin with?" Included in this edition is an afterword written by Urrea ten years after the books original publication. He points out that border conditions haven't gotten any better and there are even more horrendous acts happening along the border related to drug cartels and human trafficking. This afterword was written before Trump came into office and his border policies have been even more hardline.

So what's the solution? Urrea thinks there must be one but is not sure what it is. A few days ago, the Supreme Court did uphold Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit. So there is some light on the subject but this is a problem that will not go away any time soon.
reviewed The Devil's Highway : A True Story on + 119 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Interesting book about the Mexican/American border.
reviewed The Devil's Highway : A True Story on
Helpful Score: 1
This book is terribly written. I was hoping to be enlightened about illegal immigration, but could not get past the horrible writing style to get to the issues. I gave up - which does not happen often for me.
Read All 9 Book Reviews of "The Devils Highway A True Story"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

dom avatar reviewed The Devil's Highway : A True Story on + 12 more book reviews
This is the story of a few men who, while trying to find a better life, get rooked by scam artists. They have a more than challenging time, and the end is sad and fruitless. While disturbing, it is true and a story that needs to be told and retold until the American Consciousness awakens to these issues.
reviewed The Devil's Highway : A True Story on + 2 more book reviews
The true story of a group of undocumented immigrants who get lost crossing the Arizona desert. Heartbreaking, but well worth the read.
reviewed The Devil's Highway : A True Story on
Very informative and well written book. Difficult subject that is presented in a very objective manner.
reviewed The Devil's Highway : A True Story on + 21 more book reviews
An unforgettable, moving account of the plights of the immigrants who steal over the U.S./Mexico border in the desert. We often forget - or don't think very long and hard about - the sacrifices they make to come here, why they do, and those they leave behind back in Mexico/Central America. After reading this I'll never again think this is just a cut-&-dried legal issue.

Book Wiki


Genres: