Web Posted: 10/26/2008 12:18 CDT

Teenage immigrant mourned in homeland

Sean Mattson - Express-News PEÑA BLANCA, Mexico — In the span of 10 days, friends and family said goodbye twice to José Antonio Rivera Mancha.

The first time was when he left his family’s home in this central Mexican hamlet to embark on a journey of hundreds of miles hundreds-mile journey al otro lado, to the other side, as Mexicans sometimes refer to the United States.

On Saturday, they sent his body on a 3/61/2.5-mile funeral procession through winding mountain roads to the town cemetery.

Rivera, 17, died when his first attempt to work illegally in the United States ended at a Boerne hospital Monday. A four-day trek, largely by foot, from the El Paso area left him with fatal dehydration and renal failure.

Hundreds like Rivera die every year traveling to the United States in search of work opportunities they cannot find at home.

Rivera’s case, for the distance he traveled and his young age, drew renewed atx tention to the oft-repeated tragedy.

When he was younger, Rivera, who enjoyed sketching, wanted to study graphic arts. But he dropped out of the local middle school because it didn’t offer any arts training.

“He was disillusioned, and that’s why he left,â€