A 28-year-old Mexican tourist died after running into traffic and being struck by a semi-truck while fleeing from federal immigration officials at a Florida gas station on July 14.
Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán had arrived in the US just three weeks earlier on a tourist visa and was only two days into a Florida beach vacation when he encountered immigration agents, according to reporting from the Miami Herald. He had initially traveled to Atlanta to visit family and friends before heading south.
When federal officials, including agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, approached Coronilla and a group of four men at the gas station that Tuesday morning, all five men ran. Coronilla bolted into traffic on a nearby highway and was hit by a semi-truck, according to a Florida highway patrol spokesperson.
The death marks one of four ICE-related fatalities that occurred within a single week. Two people were shot and killed by ICE officers, one in Texas and one in Maine. A fourth person died while in ICE custody during a transfer to an immigration detention center in Georgia. The cluster of deaths has prompted public outcry and calls from lawmakers to curtail ICE operations and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, particularly as the Trump administration pursues aggressive mass deportation policies.
Coronilla, originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, left behind a seven-year-old son and a seven-month-old daughter. His wife learned of his death while watching news coverage and flew to the US the following week to make arrangements. She contacted Colectivo Arbol, a local immigrant rights group, for assistance.
The Department of Homeland Security has not publicly identified Coronilla, though the Associated Press confirmed his identity through a Mexican government official. While Florida highway patrol described it as an ICE operation, a homeland security source told the Guardian that border patrol agents also participated in the encounter.
Author James Rodriguez: "A tourist on a valid visa shouldn't end up dead running from federal agents at a gas station, and the growing number of these incidents in a single week demands serious scrutiny."
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