The white Nissan pickup was left on a street in west Phoenix.
asserted
pickup → leave → Phoenix
Ramón Barraza, the man who drove it, never returned for it.
asserted
who → drive → it
It was 7 a.m. when Barraza left the apartment he shared with his girlfriend near 43rd Avenue and McDowell Road in Maryvale, a predominantly Latino neighborhood in west Phoenix.
asserted
he → leave → Phoenix
Remnants of Christmas lights still hung from balconies.
asserted
Remnants → hang → balconies
Barraza had already paid his rent.
asserted
Barraza → pay → rent
He left in his pickup for work.
asserted
He → leave → work
He has not returned home since.
asserted
He → return → ?
In Mexico, he had worked as a certified public accountant.
asserted
he → work → accountant
In Phoenix, he learned to charge by the square foot.
asserted
he → learn → foot
He had spent two decades installing ceramic tile floors.
asserted
He → spend → floors
That morning, he was expected at a house near 119th Avenue, a roughly 10-mile drive.
asserted
he → expect → Avenue
He had been working there for more than a week, laying marble tiles.
asserted
He → work → tiles
Each weighed about 20 pounds.
asserted
Each → weigh → pounds
Lifting them again and again left his muscles aching.
asserted
Lifting → lift → muscles
He headed west on McDowell Road, a broad thoroughfare that crosses Phoenix.
asserted
that → head → Phoenix
It begins at the foot of the mountains, among homes with spacious driveways, and continues toward Maryvale, where the city grows denser with butcher shops, markets, currency exchanges and apartment complexes like the one Barraza had left that morning.
asserted
Barraza → begin → one
He turned onto 43rd Avenue to begin his route.
asserted
He → turn → route
Near 47th Avenue, he noticed a vehicle merge onto McDowell Road and begin following him.
asserted
vehicle → notice → him
He saw it in his rearview mirror.
asserted
He → see → mirror
He kept driving.
asserted
He → keep → ?
The SUV followed him for several blocks.
asserted
SUV → follow → blocks
At 67th Avenue and McDowell Road, he stopped for gas.
asserted
he → stop → gas
His cellphone screen showed it was just after 7:10 a.m.
asserted
it → show → a.m.
He greeted some friends from construction, filled the tank, poured himself coffee and exchanged a few comments about the day’s work.
asserted
He → greet → work
Rumors had been circulating in Phoenix for weeks.
asserted
Rumors → circulate → weeks
Social media videos warned that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was detaining people on streets, at gas stations and in parking lots.
asserted
Enforcement → warn → lots
Barraza lived in the United States without legal status, but he still had to work.
asserted
he → live → status
He merged back into westbound traffic.
asserted
He → merge → traffic
Right away, he saw the same Tahoe with tinted windows.
asserted
he → see → windows
This time it was following too closely.
asserted
it → follow → ?
After he passed 75th Avenue, it flashed its lights and signaled him to pull over.
asserted
it → pass → him
“It had no identification of any kind,” Barraza recalled.
asserted
Barraza → have → kind
It didn’t have a light bar.
asserted
It → have → bar
It had nothing.”
asserted
It → have → nothing
He turned right and stopped on an unmarked street.
asserted
He → turn → street
The men who got out of the SUV were not wearing uniforms.
asserted
who → get → uniforms
“Get out of your vehicle,” they told him.
asserted
they → get → him
“They even spoke to me in Spanish.”
asserted
They → speak → Spanish
He complied, opened the door and got out.
asserted
He → comply → door
He said one of them asked, “What is your name?”
asserted
name → say → them
…and 328 more, not listed.
The Aporia
