Man Deported From Idaho Dies In Desert Trying to Return to His Family

After twenty-seven years here in Idaho, this man was told he had to go back to Mexico in front of his wife and children. He died in the desert trying to get back to them.

45-year-old Adrian Luna had been here in Idaho from the time he was eighteen.

His wife Belinda says all of a sudden he was told to

hug his family one last time

Belinda says Adrian worked hard, paid taxes, and raised a family.

Months after been deported, Adrian's body was found deep in the California desert. He had been trying to get back to everything she says he knew as home. His family, his residence, his church, and all of the obligations that came with his life.

Illegal re-entry is a felony in this country, but according to the Idaho Statesman, 15,700 people, mostly men, were prosecuted in 2017 for trying to get back into the United States. This past year, at least 412 migrants have been found dead along the border.

Adrian's wife says that for years they had been trying to regularize his immigration status and that they had paid more than $10,000 in lawyer fees in trying to follow the law.

Normally he could get a green card since she is a United States citizen, but his case was complicated because he had been deported back in 1992 and had re-entered the country illegally.

Adrian's family says they are grateful to have the closure that came with the identification of his body, but of course, nothing will heal the heartbreak that has come with losing their father, husband, and friend.