by EFE
Activists remember this Saturday the 28 Mexican immigrants who died in a plane crash in California when they were going to be expelled from the United States and who were only identified as "the deportees" by the authorities and the press, which generated great controversy 75 years ago .
The incident occurred
on January 28, 1948 when an aircraft with 32 people on board crashed near Coalinga
, in the Central Valley of California.
All the occupants died but both the authorities and the press only identified the three crew members and an immigration officer, all white, and the rest of the victims were only mentioned as "the deportees."
On January 28, 1948, a plane hired by the Immigration services crashed in Los Gatos Canyon, just outside Coalinga.
In all, 32 people died, including 28 Mexicans who were buried anonymously in a Fresno cemetery.
That plaque was later replaced with their names.Michael Robinson Chavez/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
Among the 28 Mexican victims were agricultural workers belonging to the bracero program whose work permits had expired, as well as undocumented immigrants facing deportation orders.
After the scandal, only 12 of them were identified.
Most of the bodies were entombed in a common grave at Fresno's Holy Cross Cemetery, and their graves were marked "Mexican Nationals."
The event inspired the song
Deportee
by Woody Guthrie, in which he assigned symbolic names to the deceased.
These were their names
The victims were fully identified decades later thanks to the work of activists and researchers such as Tim Z. Hernández, author and professor at the University of Texas, who captured the story in the book
All They Will Call You
.
In 2018, the California Senate claimed the names of the 28 Mexicans
, including Miguel Negrete Álvarez, Tomás Aviña de Gracia, Francisco Llamas Durán, Santiago García Elizondo, Rosalío Padilla Estrada, Tomás Padilla Márquez, Bernabé López García, Salvador Sandoval Hernández, Severo Medina Lara, Elías Trujillo Macías, José Rodríguez Macías, Luis López Medina and Manuel Calderón Merino.
Honduras receives two flights with immigrants deported from the US.
Aug 2, 202200:23
The list is completed by Luis Cuevas Miranda, Martín Razo Navarro, Ignacio Pérez Navarro, Román Ochoa Ochoa, Ramón Paredes González, Guadalupe Ramírez Lara, Apolonio Ramírez Placencia, Alberto Carlos Raygoza, Guadalupe Hernández Rodríguez, María Santana Rodríguez, Juan Valenzuela Ruiz, Wenceslao Flores Ruiz , José Valdivia Sánchez, Jesús Meza Santos and Baldomero Marcas Torres.
The event to commemorate and vindicate deceased immigrants will take place this Saturday at the Baker Museum in Coalinga, where Tim Z. Hernández will participate.
Another event was held in Los Angeles on Friday to remember the workers who died in the accident.