I was not expecting there to be much of a difference between my reflection from the Beyond Borders 2025 trip to this one. We went to the same county to do the same kind of work, so I was expecting to be prepared for the field work and confident in how I would emotionally handle being there. Reflecting now, I see how misguided that was. Despite going over the same week as last year, with the same amount of physical preparation, the circumstances were vastly different.
The climate that we had encountered last year was cool during the day, so with our gear we were mostly comfortable to search without fearing for heat exhaustion. A big lesson that I took away last year was that the cool weather was a double edged sword. Yes, the days weren’t hot but the nights were dangerously cold. For migrants traveling on foot for days through the ranch landscapes, layers weren’t practical, making travel exhausting and dangerous. During this year’s trip, it was hot. Every day was above 80 degrees and we were only afforded a breeze for some of them. Back in Indy, this would be considered a nice summer day, but on the ranches, where shade can be sparse and covered in thorns and bugs, it was draining. We were incredibly lucky that if it was too hot we could be done for the day, or if we ran out of water, there was more back at the trucks to fill up. A migrant who has already been traveling for days, or more, by the time they reach Brooks County, is not afforded this. The weather that we were experiencing was not even the hottest that area gets, as summers are mostly over 100 degrees everyday. So whether oppressive heat or debilitating cold, there is no time when the climate makes this journey easier.
Migrants are paying thousands of dollars to cross the border and alongside every weather condition sapping their strength, there is staggering violence that they have to endure. This past year has enhanced a lot of animosity to the migrant community and even just watching the news, you can see incredibly hateful rhetoric being spouted. People believe that a migrant can just cross the border and go back to living their life, but that is not even close to the truth. A migrant’s journey is filled with violence, as well as after they are done. This year, some of the artifacts that we were able to identify showed us how this violence is fostered by the coyotes leading the groups. It was jarring to see the evidence of the treatment that migrants are encountering while already being physically and mentally exhausted. I feel lucky that I can go home, live in comfort, and call my family and friends but I also feel inadequate that there isn’t more that I can do.
On our last day, our whole team was gathered to share a final meal and we were discussing the things we had learned and why it was important for us to do search and recovery work. Something that particularly stuck with me in our discussion was the belief that migrants that are recovered deserve to be returned to their families because that is what we would want someone to do for us. Many of these individuals are in a forced migration situation and they pay exorbitant amounts of money to go north. But that does not guarantee safety. They endure horrific conditions that will either stick with them forever or kill them.
So yes, we went to the same county, to do the same work, but the circumstances of this trip gave me a glimpse of how there is more to a migrant’s journey than I could ever truly understand. I feel even more emboldened in my beliefs surrounding the situation and that I should continue to advocate for migrants who are risking everything to return to their families or to have a better life. I am so grateful for this opportunity and to have been able to return to this experience with an incredibly impressive team, and I am thankful that I was able to learn from and be supported by them all. I have learned there is no true way to prepare for this because it is a complex situation and that having people there with you to discuss and reflect is the best way to do so. My reflections do not end with this post, just as my previous reflections did not end after I wrote it. These past two experiences will stick with me forever, and I will use them to continue to learn, educate, and advocate for human rights in every area of my life, now and beyond.
