Undocumented migrants from Mexico have several reasons to risk their lives to enter America.
The primary reason why people risk their lives to enter the United States is economic. They hope to earn money for themselves and their families back home. In an effort to stem the tide of immigration, Mexico recently increased its minimum wage to $5 a day—a 16 percent increase. In addition, Mexico's new president wants to double the minimum wage in northern states next to America.
Mexico's endemic violence is another reason that motivates immigrants. The country has a high homicide rate; journalists are often murdered for simply doing their jobs.
A third reason for for immigration is corruption. Well-connected Mexicans control the government, education, utilities, and all segments of Mexican society. Ordinary Mexicans are often forced to pay bribes to receive services.
Finally, geography plays a key role. The US and Mexico share a long border, which means that the points of access are numerous (though, often, extremely dangerous).
The undocumented migrants who risk their lives to come to the United States do so for a number of reasons. Basically, these reasons can be summed up by saying that they are seeking a better life for themselves and their families, and they believe it is worth the risk of getting caught—or worse, as we see in The Devil's Highway. The Wellton 26 all sought to leave Veracruz and come to the United States for these economic and social reasons. Most hoped to come to the United States to get jobs as agricultural laborers, jobs that would provide money to help them live better lives back in Veracruz. The needs they hoped to meet were basic ones: a new roof, new furniture, school tuition, medical care, and other basics that many middle-class Americans take for granted. These were the "pull" factors. The "push" factors were also powerful for some of the men. Veracruz was itself awash with immigrants from Central America and was experiencing serious inflation. Even basic consumer goods were unaffordable. So the place where the Wellton 26 (or the Yuma 14, the name given by the media to the men who died) came from caused many of them to look to the United States as a place of opportunity. These factors helped bring the men into an area Urrea describes as "the most terrible place in the world."
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Devil_s_Highway.html?id=fZwljdgH1vMC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button
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