Mexican Tourist Killed by Truck After Immigration Encounter in Florida

A 28-year-old Mexican national died July 14 after being struck by a semi-truck on a busy Florida road while fleeing federal immigration agents, according to authorities and Mexican officials. Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán, who was vacationing in the United States on a valid tourist visa, ran across a roadway in St. Augustine and into the path of the vehicle during an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Coronilla Durán had traveled from his hometown of San Luis de la Paz in Guanajuato to Atlanta to visit family and friends before spending time on Florida’s east coast, according to Isaret Jeffers, founder of Colectivo Arbol, a farmworkers advocacy group. He spent three weeks in Georgia before heading to the beaches, Jeffers said Tuesday.

Four people were in a vehicle stopped at a gas station parking lot before 7 a.m. when agents from ICE and Homeland Security Investigations initiated an encounter, the Florida Highway Patrol reported. All four individuals fled on foot, with one running across the highway into traffic. The Highway Patrol and Department of Homeland Security have not disclosed additional details, citing an ongoing investigation.

Coronilla Durán’s wife, Yezzika Alamilla, contacted Colectivo Arbol the day after his death seeking assistance to travel from Mexico and arrange repatriation of his remains. The organization provided a plane ticket and accommodations for three days before the Mexican consulate assumed support efforts.

Susana Guerra Vallejo, undersecretary for assistance to migrants and mobility issues for Guanajuato, confirmed that Coronilla Durán held a tourist visa and had been in the United States for only a short time. His body will be transported to Mexico on a commercial flight from Orlando for burial in San Luis de la Paz, a farming community approximately 160 miles northwest of Mexico City.

Coronilla Durán leaves behind a wife and two children, a 7-month-old girl and a 7-year-old boy. His death marks at least the 10th fatality involving immigration agents since President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign began last year.

The Mexican government has requested that U.S. state attorneys general review deaths of migrants in ICE custody or during enforcement operations for possible criminal prosecution.