A Brazilian man that hoped to make it into the US before Christmas has fallen to his death from the Mexico-US border wall hours after calling his dad to say that he was planning the illegal crossing that evening.

Diogo Fernandes de Oliveira, 36, fell from the wall that separates the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez and the city of El Paso in the US state of Texas, hitting his head and breaking his pelvis, on 7th December.

The businessman, who hailed from the west-central Brazilian state of Goias, had dreamed of living in the United States and providing a better life for his family back home.

His family is currently involved in a legal quest to get his body repatriated to the Brazilian municipality of Sao Luis de Montes Belos, where his parents live.

Oliveira’s last phone call was to his father a few hours before the accident, in which he said: “Dad, I’m going to make the crossing now at night. Speak later. Kisses.”

His family was contacted by the Brazilian consulate in Mexico on the morning of 12th December with news of his death.

A relative, who wished to remain anonymous, told local media: “He had always dreamed of going to the United States. He was full of plans for himself and his fiancee. His goal was to improve his family’s living conditions, especially his parents’.”

Oliveira decided to make the illegal crossing after being denied a US visa three times between 2017 and 2019.

He worked as a store manager in a shopping centre, which had closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Unemployed and eager to pursue his dream, he hired a ‘coyote’ to help him make the crossing.

Undeterred by his family’s warnings, he bought a ticket to the city of Cancun in south-east Mexico, where he met the smuggler, who took him to the border area. His family does not know the coyote’s identity.

Oliveira had friends living legally in the United States, who had planned to help him with housing and employment. Once settled, his plan was to save money and bring his fiancee over.

It is not known if the case is being investigated by the police.

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