Summary

Chapter 15 has the same title as Part 4: “Aftermath.” In the chapter, Border Patrol drops the survivors off at a hospital and does not arrest them, which spares the federal government the hospital bills. The survivors are rehydrated and given food to eat. The author then introduces Rita Vargas, the Mexican consul in Calexico. Vargas immediately gets Mexican officials on the line. Meanwhile, government authorities interrogate the survivors. They follow Nahum’s lead, giving evasive answers while placing all the blame on Mendez. They point him out in the hospital ward.

The United States of America v. Jesus Lopez Ramos is opened. The author quotes all of Mendez’s letter to the court, explaining and justifying his actions. The dead bodies are shipped back to the state of Veracruz. The author figuratively accompanies these men on their flight home, imagining how they would have...