Category Archives: Community

Interaction with the community of Falfurrias

What We Leave, and What We Take

Community, Human Rights, Migrant Death, Reflections

Travelling to Texas over the past few summers is always challenging.  We usually try and pack in as much as humanly possible.  This applies not only to our luggage, but also our time in the Lone Star state.  Every day is crammed full of experiences to ensure that no second of time is wasted.  This year we completed 17 skeletal analyses (alongside the fine people of Texas State University), participated in “Missing in Harris County Day”, and even managed to have a little extra time to construct and fill water stations in Brooks County.

A woman smiling in front of a field.
My beautiful wife, Jessica.

Every time I travel I cannot help but think about what I’m taking and what I’m leaving behind.  Leaving Indianapolis, my first instinct is to pour over the trivial things… like did I bring underwear? or how much deodorant do I need for 10 days?  Those thoughts soon give way to the more meaningful.  The first and most important thing I leave behind every time I visit Texas is my beautiful wife.  Everyone who knows me will tell you that I’m not always the easiest person to get along with.  Jessica and I have been married for nearly 9 years now, which places her level of patience and understanding on par with saints.  It may seem silly, but I always feel like part of her is with me on my journey.  She understands that the work we do is meaningful and important, and I could not do it without her support.

A brown and white dog
Watson is on the case.

I left something new at home this year… This 3-year-old basset hound mix Jessica and I adopted from the Indianapolis Humane Society.  We changed his name to Watson, a fitting name for an intelligent and loyal side kick.  He has already become a member of our family, and I look forward to our future lives together.

The last thing I left in Indianapolis was my case knife.  I forgot that it was in my jacket pocket before the TSA security checkpoint.  It may sound trivial, but I loved that knife.  I am also glad that the TSA is doing their job so well.  I hope you enjoy my knife (although I suggest you clean it before using it).

The things that I take and leave from Texas are much more ephemeral.  If I had to choose one material thing to take back to Indy, it would be HEB grocery stores (sorry, everything else, its’s HEB!).  Alas, like most of the wonderful people and places in Texas, I am forced to leave them all behind.  I leave behind friends who treated us like family.  I leave behind families still searching for loved ones.  I also leave behind an amazing group of individuals that continue to fight for human rights, and aid in the identification of the missing.  People like the wonderful faculty and students of Texas State, and Eddie Canalez and Ryan Strand of the South Texas Human Rights Center show us what we can accomplish if our hearts and minds are in the right place.

I hope that I have taken part of that fight with me.  Although it seems that we are thousands of miles away from issues on the border, these issues permeate our entire country.  Even with this perceived separation, it is how we act now that that will that will continue to shape our great country.  Our country was founded on the magnanimous ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  I believe that everyone should have access, after all, todos somos inmigrantes (we are all immigrants).

Justin

Helping Families Find Their Loved Ones: Long Term Cases

Community, Human Rights, Migrant Death

Out of all topics I planned on covering this blog-year, I believe this topic is probably covered the most, mainly because Team UIndy’s expertise lies in exactly this category: long term cases. However, in the past, long term cases have mostly been discussed on the unidentified persons side. This includes the exhumation process and the anthropological analysis. So, for this post, I will focus on the missing persons side of long term cases

What is a long term case? For us at the South Texas Human Rights Center, we don’t have a particularly clear definition, but a long term case can usually be defined as a case that we’ve exhausted all possible resources to find a family’s loved one. This means that we’ve evaluated the circumstances of the disappearance and have called hospitals, detention centers, Border Patrol, etc. (all only with the family’s permission) with no luck.

In these cases, we do everything we can to keep the case actively investigated. First, we conduct a full interview that covers everything we can possibly think of regarding the person who went missing and how they went missing. Our form is around ten pages long and takes about an hour to fill out. We want the family to know that any and all information is extremely important and can ultimately can lead to finding their loved one. We ask for dental records, medical records, and any other potentially identifying information. With the family’s permission, we can file a law enforcement missing persons report and enter the case into NamUs (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System), which is an online database that allows the public to search among missing persons and unidentified persons cases in order to try and find matches. If applicable, we will send the case to other organizations to see if they can do anything to help. Finally, we try and collect a Family Reference Sample, which is a DNA sample that can be compared to DNA samples collected from unidentified human remains.

Missing in Harris County Day was an excellent example of all of our efforts to assist families wrapped into a single day. And while Team UIndy discussed the day in previous posts, I want to highlight some of the key successes of the day:

– We helped ten families through the entire process. Full interviews were conducted, cases were put in NamUs, DNA samples were collected, and ultimately families were provided with resources to help them find their missing loved one. Completing all of these processes is extremely difficult for so many reasons, and rarely happens. But on Saturday, we completed these processes for ten families. That is INCREDIBLE.

– We were able to help families whose loved ones were missing, not from the US, but from other countries. This is nearly an impossible feat. But thanks to the presence of the EAAF (Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team), these families could be helped.

– We were able to provide families with explanations about the entire process by allowing families to interact with experts. Again, because of the complexities of the process, families are usually left with more questions than answers after an interview or after a DNA collection. But with everyone together in one room, families could have many questions answered.

These long term cases are extremely difficult in so many different ways. And through this process, I’ve come to hold one position in higher respect than any other position I’ve witnessed: the interviewer. I am extremely thankful for the volunteers who listened to families as they told heartbreaking stories, offering condolences and an open heart to any family who needed it. These volunteers truly and honestly put the families before everything else. Some go as far as to give families their personal phone numbers to allow families to call whenever they need someone to listen. These volunteers were present at Missing in Harris County Day, and are a continual source of inspiration and hope during this crisis. I know I’ve said before that no position is more important than another, but I have to briefly disagree as I reflect on the fact that for these volunteers, helping a family ALWAYS comes first.

Ryan

Six people standing in a field in front of a red cross flag holding up nine fingers.

Day 9: How to Build a Water Station

Community, Environment, Human Rights, Migrant Death

One of the many ways that the South Texas Human Rights Center contributes positively to this humanitarian crisis is by constructing and refilling water stations to help prevent migrant deaths.  Every year, countless people die while crossing the harsh desert scrub land of Brooks County.  The water stations prevent more deaths by providing a waystation of relief in an otherwise unforgiving environment.  Building and replenishing the water stations is full-time endeavor that requires the aid of multiple volunteers.  Please check out this short video that demonstrates how much work goes into the creation of one of these stations.

To check out the South Texas Human Rights Center, please click here.

Justin and Helen