Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán, the Mexican man killed in Florida while fleeing federal immigration officials, was vacationing in the US with a tourist visa, according to news reports this week.
The 28-year-old died on 14 July after an "encounter" with officials including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a state highway patrol spokesperson said last week. After officials approached him and four other men at a gas station, they all ran. Coronilla ran into traffic and was hit by a semi-truck.
Four ICE-related deaths in less than a week
Coronilla's death is one of four ICE-related fatalities in less than a week. Two people, one in Texas and one in Maine, were shot and killed by ICE officers. A fourth person died in ICE custody while being transferred to a detention center in Georgia. The deaths have renewed calls to rein in ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as they carry out the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign.
According to the Miami Herald, Coronilla, from Guanajuato, had been in Florida for only two days when he died, having arrived in the US three weeks earlier. He first traveled to Atlanta to see family and friends, then went to Florida for the beaches.
Wife learned of death from news
Coronilla's wife, who flew to the US last week to make arrangements, had not heard from him and discovered his death while watching the news, a local immigrant rights group told the Miami Herald. She contacted Colectivo Arbol for help. The group said Coronilla leaves behind a seven-year-old son and a seven-month-old daughter.
DHS has not publicly identified Coronilla, but the Associated Press confirmed his identity with a Mexican government official. Although the Florida highway patrol said it was an ICE operation, a homeland security source told the Guardian that border patrol agents were involved.
