BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A makeshift memorial for the victims sits outside the Ozanam Center that continues to grow with everything from candles to flowers and crosses as people try to make sense of this tragedy.
The Brownsville community still shaken up after eight people were recklessly killed outside of a migrant shelter.
A vigil was held to honor the lives lost, and for a few people who paid their respects, this tragedy is personal.
"They were waiting for the bus to take them to the airport, to the bus station and their dreams were literally crushed," said LUPE (La Unión del Pueblo Entero) Executive Director Tana Chavez.
Residents say the crash, which affected 18 people and killed eight people Sunday, has shaken the Brownsville community.
"We're all Mexicans, Hispanics, who feel everything that is happening," said Rio Grande Valley Maria Esparza.
The Ozanam Center is the largest migrant center in Brownsville, and it helps migrants such as this Venezuelan national.
"Not one person is prepared to encounter and experience all that journey,” the 29-year-old said in Spanish. “I can't even mention what the dangers are the majority of this, you need luck to deal with most of this."
The shelter helps migrants get one step closer to living in the United States for a better life.
"We provide shelter, we provide meals, hygiene kits, we provide case management," said the center’s executive director Victor Maldonado.
The 29-year old man, who asked us not to share his name, was outside the shelter when the several of his countrymen were killed Sunday.
"I'm here with my wife and my son,” he said. “I have family in Venezuela, still. All my family is there still. My dad, my mom, my grandparents, brothers, uncles."
He said the journey to America is already scary, but this just made it worse.
"There isn't any protection for us,” he said. “The people that come walking all the way over here are at the mercy of God."
He said he’s here to provide a better life for his wife and son here, and for his family back home. That's it.
"If you treat me bad because you think you're better than me, for whatever you reason -- you have a house, a job, a car, whatever it is -- you find a Venezuelan here walking,” he said. “You should show some more empathy for us, and that goes for the whole world."
The people we spoke with said through unity, and prayer, this loss will pass and the community will heal and become stronger.
"Me and my family came from immigrants, and we came for a better life," Esparza said.
Chavez, who said she has lived in the United States as an undocumented migrant for 20 years, hopes things get better of the migrant community.
"I hope that, one day, these immigrants will be given an opportunity for respect — for dignity,” she said. “They should be able feel free to work, feel free to thrive in the United States."
And a call for action.
"That the governor puts a little more attention on this and offer help for them,” Esparza said. “That would be great."