A life in Mississippi
The Peco Foods poultry plant in Sebastopol, MS where López worked as a mechanic. (Photo: Jika Gonzalez/VICE World News)
“This is the type of good neighbor I want to live over in my neighborhood. This is the type of good neighbor we all want,” federal judge Carlton Reeves would later say at López’s sentencing hearing.But being the perfect neighbor wasn’t enough. After the 2019 raids, around half of the 680 arrested workers were quickly released, based on the condition that they had family in the U.S. and no criminal record. But López was kept in jail, on the basis that he had been deported 22 years earlier after a prior raid at a different chicken plant — and then re-entered the U.S. just months later. That meant he could be federally prosecuted.López wasn’t used to jail, and it quickly wore him down. During his first court hearing, he told the judge the detained workers were being deprived of sleep and food. It was a short but courageous statement: He was the only defendant to speak up at the hearing. The same judge later deemed him safe to stay with his family while he waited for his criminal trial for illegally re-entering the country. His family paid a $10,000 bond for his release.
Sonia Cardona at the family home in Carthage, MS. She had been with Edgar López for 24 years. (Photo: Jika Gonzalez/VICE World News)
“I know I have no rights in this country. But I do under God,” López said amid tears at his sentencing hearing. “And I thank God for giving me the opportunity to be here.”“I know I have no rights in this country. But I do under God.”
Carthage to Comitancillo
In Comitancillo, residents line up early in the morning on market days to pick up remittances sent from family members in the U.S. (Photo: Guillermo Alvarez/VICE World News)
‘I’m going to fight to make it to you’
He wanted his wife to return to Comitancillo—but she was reluctant.
López and Cardona were married in Carthage. Figurines of their wedding day sit in the family's living room. (Photos: Jika Gonzalez/VICE World News)
It’s unclear when the Coronados began smuggling migrants to the U.S. What’s known is that by 2018, Adan started posting photos on Facebook where he talked about “express trips” to the U.S., with pictures of Guatemalan, Mexican, and U.S. flags, according to two Guatemalans living in Carthage. They said it was a clear advertising strategy to make it known he was working as a coyote.
The last text
López made a woven bracelet for his wife when he was in detention, after his arrest in the August 2019 raids. (Photo: Jika Gonzalez/VICE News)
‘I have no words’
But the hardest thing, Evelin says, is waiting for the daily phone call from her dad that doesn’t arrive. She tries to be strong for her mother and kids, but when she’s alone, the tears come uncontrollably.
“All the cruelty that they did to him in the U.S., it’s hard for me to realize how my dad went through getting shot, getting burned. I have no words to explain or express myself.” López’s family isn’t the only one grieving. The connection between Comitancillo and Carthage is so strong that the day after the news broke about the massacre, a high school teacher in Carthage received messages from three of his students: They all had family members killed and would need more time to turn in their homework assignments.“It’s hard for me to realize how my dad went through getting shot, getting burned.”
López was among the first Guatemalans to settle in Carthage, a 5,000-person city with a large and growing Guatemalan population. (Photo: Jika Gonzalez/VICE World News)
But none of the five poultry companies targeted in the raids have been charged or even fined. Just two mid-level managers and two human resources employees have been indicted. They were charged with hiring a total of 16 undocumented workers and, in some cases, helping them forge papers, according to court records. None have been tried. “We have always utilized the government-based E-Verify program which screens new hires through the Social Security Administration as well as the Department of Homeland Security for compliance,” Peco Foods, where López worked, said in a statement. “Our dedication to our people means creating the best work environment possible by providing them with the training, tools, opportunities, and competitive wages needed to promote their development.” Chicken plants near Carthage continue to fill their ranks with undocumented workers. VICE World News spoke to four who make between $14 and $17 an hour hanging up to 45 chickens per minute on a conveyor belt before the birds’ heads are cut off. They’ve been hired by a subcontractor. For López’s family, any sense of closure is a long way off, if it ever comes at all. His remains are still sitting in a medical examiner’s office in Mexico, along with the 15 other victims from Guatemala. Mexican and Guatemalan officials have promised to expedite their return to their families. But López’s family hasn’t heard any details. Most of what they know comes from social media. One thing is certain. Cardona will miss the burial. She can’t travel to Guatemala because she is undocumented. Instead, she hopes half of his ashes can be returned to Carthage — to his children and grandchildren, to her. “He wanted to see his family again, but he couldn’t make it,” she said.“He wanted to see his family again, but he couldn’t make it.”