MIAMI — A Mexican man who died after being struck by a tractor-trailer while fleeing from a U.S. immigration enforcement encounter in Florida was visiting the United States on vacation and had a tourist visa, according to Mexican officials and a group assisting his family.
Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán, 28, died on July 14 in St. Augustine, Florida, after authorities said he ran across a roadway during an encounter involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations agents and was hit by a truck. The Florida Highway Patrol said the incident occurred after four people in a vehicle fled on foot from the encounter at a gas station parking area.
Mexican officials and the advocacy group Colectivo Árbol said Coronilla Durán was from San Luis de la Paz in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato and had traveled to the United States to visit family and friends. Isaret Jeffers, founder of Colectivo Árbol, said the man’s wife, Yezzika Alamilla, told the group that he had entered the country with a tourist visa and was not in the United States for employment.
Susana Guerra Vallejo, an official responsible for migrant assistance in Guanajuato, said Coronilla Durán had been in the United States for a short period and had a tourist visa, based on information provided by his widow. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately comment on whether his visa status had been verified.
Authorities have not released additional details about what led to the encounter or why the four individuals fled. The Florida Highway Patrol and federal officials said the investigation remained ongoing.
Colectivo Árbol said Alamilla contacted the organization after her husband’s death seeking assistance with travel arrangements and repatriating his remains. The Mexican consulate has also been involved in helping the family, officials said.
Coronilla Durán’s body is expected to be returned to Mexico for burial in his hometown, according to Guerra Vallejo. He is survived by his wife and two children, Colectivo Árbol said.
The death came amid broader scrutiny of immigration enforcement operations after several recent fatal incidents involving encounters with federal immigration agents. Officials have said investigations into those incidents are continuing, and no final findings have been announced in Coronilla Durán’s case.
