"It's out of a horror film": We asked Latinos who migrated to the U.S. in the backs of trucks to share their stories

Extreme heat, claustrophobia, abuse and death: More than 150 Univision News readers told us about their dangerous journeys to the United States aboard packed tractor-trailers.

Tales from the back of the truck.
Tales from the back of the truck.
Imagen Ricardo Weibezahn / Mauricio Rodríguez-Pons


Last weekend, authorities discovered a gruesome scene in a Walmart parking lot in San Antonio, Texas: 10 migrants died in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer that had traveled from Laredo, along the Mexican border.

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Despite the dangers, riding aboard a truck is a common way for migrants to enter the United States, and has resulted in death before. Univision News asked readers to share their experiences crossing the border or traveling towards the U.S. packed into one of these trucks.

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We received over 150 stories, many from people who requested to remain anonymous. Some of the testimonies seemed to come out of a horror film. People described the feeling of claustrophobia inside, the oppressive heat and hunger and the sound of people suffocating. They told of pills being administered to kids to prevent them from going to the bathroom. And they explained scenes of accidents and death. Some traveled in trucks full of onions and bananas; others amid plastic bags and empty boxes. Some watched women get assaulted, were assaulted themselves, or abandoned by smugglers.

Here is a selection of their stories:

"Menos mal por el accidente porque veníamos todos asfixiándonos"
"Menos mal por el accidente porque veníamos todos asfixiándonos"
Imagen Ricardo Weibezahn / Mauricio Rodríguez-Pons
"Cuando uno de mis hermanos no quería caminar, lo cargaba en la espalda"
"Cuando uno de mis hermanos no quería caminar, lo cargaba en la espalda"
Imagen Ricardo Weibezahn / Mauricio Rodriguez-Pons

These are just some of the stories that readers shared with Univision News. Their testimonies have been edited for clarity and length and were complemented by telephone interviews. Due to the nature of the stories, Univision was unable to independently verify the aforementioned trips. Did you travel in trailer to the U.S.? Share your story with us now.

Here's what else migrants told us:

Imagen Ricardo Weibezahn / Mauricio Rodríguez-Pons
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