2:57 p.m. ET, June 26, 2019
Migrants who drowned began journey from El Salvador almost 3 months ago
CNN’s Tatiana Arias and Ana Melgar
The father and daughter who drowned left El Salvador with family on April 3rd seeking better life in Dallas, Texas, according to family members.
On Sunday they arrived at the border: Salvadoran migrants Oscar Alberto Martinez, his wife Tania Avalos, their almost 2-years-old daughter Angie Valeria Martinez and a cousin arrived to the bordering city of Matamoros in northeastern Mexico Sunday morning, according to Enrique Maciel Cervantes, Director of the Tamaulipas Institute for Migrants.
Cervantes explained that on the same day of their arrival, the family voluntarily headed to the “New International Bridge” seeking information. They were told to visit the National Institute of Migration and to request an appointment-interview-number to petition for a humanitarian aid visa to the United States.
According to Tania Avalos, the family left the National Institute of Migration, went for lunch and “once walking on the edge of the Rio Grande, they decided to cross-over to the United States, unluckily," Cervantes said.
The mother of Oscar Alberto Martinez, Rosa Ramirez, confirmed that her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter left the country on April 3 in hopes to make it to Dallas, Texas to work. The family stayed in Mexico with a permit from the Mexican authorities.
Mrs. Ramirez explained that her family wanted to buy their own house and better their financial situation.
Ramirez said her son used to work as a cook in a pizzeria and that he was a good man that always tried to help his family out, she told CNN’s affiliate Canal 33. Ramirez said the last time she talked to her son was on Friday and he said everything was going well.