Category Archives: Human Rights, Migrant Death

At 7:45am, we all met in the lobby of the Best Western to start our day. In our matching UIndy Human Identification Center t-shirts we munched on bagels, sausage, pancakes, and fruit. We washed down our breakfast with Emergen-C to help ward off any illness during our trip. Then, we departed for the South Texas Human Rights Center.

Upon arriving at the South Texas Human Rights Center, we were greeted by Selena and Arianna, two passionate members of the human rights community. After Brooks County Deputy Sheriff Don White joined us and introductions were made, we began loading the center’s truck with 55 gallon barrels, water jugs, and tools we might need to repair water stations already in the field. We then divided up into our rental van and center’s truck and started off to the route we were scheduled to repair and fill.

On the side of this particular rural highway the South Texas Human Rights Center has installed 55 gallon blue barrels filled with water jugs and water bottles. The large barrels are labeled “Agua” and marked by tall flagpoles that help to highlight the barrels among the brush. Our task today was to refill and service the water stations along this highway and neighboring roadways. After a few stations everyone got into the groove of things. Sidney took notes about the condition of the barrels and how much water was in each container. Holley made sure each barrel’s lid was labeled with the station’s GPS coordinates and the phone number for the South Texas Human Rights Center. Alba and I worked to drill holes into the barrels and secure each barrel to a metal post with clamps. Everyone assisted with removing spoiled water from the barrels and placing new water jugs into the stations. All in all, our team repaired and refilled 14 water stations today!

Our day was filled with many firsts for everyone. For Holley, Alba, and myself today was the first time we had all worked to fix water stations. Even Dr. Latham (who has been bringing students down to Texas for years) enjoyed a few firsts including trying a new restaurant, The Burger Barn, and getting pulled over by Border Patrol for suspected human smuggling as we were frequently pulling over on the side of the highway.

Overall, today was a good way to start off our trip. I feel that I gained skills, like how to tighten a metal clamp, but I also learned a lot about the connections the members of this community have. I believe these skills and this knowledge has provided me with a good base so I can assist in any way I’m needed and from which I can continue to learn about the issues important to this community.

Megan

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”  – Martin Luther King Jr.

After six years of working towards the identification and repatriation of unidentified migrants who perished in the Texas Borderlands I continue to learn and grow with each trip we take to work with colleagues on these missions.  One thing that struck me this trip was the observation that those who work on these issues on a continual basis looked a little more tired and a little more broken than usual. I think we all got into this naively believing that progress would come since everyone would see the value of dignity in life and in death.  But six years of not only fighting for the rights of those who can not speak for themselves, but also of continually having to prove that their lives are worthy are beginning to take a toll. We’ve never spoken about how tired we are, frustrated yeah,  but on multiple occasions this trip I had someone look me in the eye and say “I’m tired”.  I heard about the emotional impact this is having on individuals who have been nothing but duty driven in the past.  They fight everyday to locate the fallen or abandoned, to provide life saving water and medical aid, to exhume and identify and simply to extend dignity to a population deemed disposable and less than human. There’s no praise here, no rewards, just the satisfaction of knowing you are doing the right thing by extending the same treatment to others as you would want your own family to be treated.

I am very proud of the emotional and professional growth of the student members of the Beyond Borders team. They performed hard, physical labor for up to 10 hours per day with no complaints. They were put into emotionally and politically charged situations and were able to navigate them with professionalism and poise. They learned valuable archeological skills and how to apply their education and training to mass disaster/ humanitarian situations. They supported each other as part of a team, formed relationships with peers and colleagues at Texas State University and modeled empathy during a time in which we need it desperately.  And while they know this mission is not about them, it does provide them with the practical and theoretical tools and prospective to work towards change within a system that is currently unable to address the needs at our southern border. It embodies our university motto of Education For Service.

My favorite moment of this mission was our trip to the Humanitarian Respite Center.  When we pulled up to the center we saw a group of children kicking a ball. When we entered the center two little girls ran up to us asking if my two year old could play and asked her name. While the students went on a tour and learned how the center supports the community and the migrant refugees I went outside to the a small play area with my daughter and the little girls. Soon there were about ten children running around, pushing a play shopping cart and sitting in a little play house. A few moms emerged carrying their babies to sit and watch their older children. They looked tired. There was pain in their eyes. But that changed every time they looked at their kids. You could see that whatever they left behind and the risks they took to get here was for their children. They had been released the previous night after 8 days in ICE detention. They said after being inside the cold detention rooms for over a week the kids just wanted to play outside. As I watched a group of beautiful, happy children who were more concerned about finding the perfect toy to make my daughter smile then about the trauma they suffered, all I could do is hope they receive the same kindness and acceptance once they leave the center later that day. All I could do is hope their smiles and resilience would remain intact after they face whatever awaits them here in the land of the free.

~KEL

I vividly remember the first time I heard a presentation about Beyond Borders. It was a presentation about exhumations in Starr County, and I was engrossed by the idea of exhumation for a greater cause. One of the most captivating aspects of the University of Indianapolis’ program was their involvement with humanitarian applications of anthropology, something I had been longing to become involved with for many years. I heard stories about Falfurrias, TX and Sacred Heart Cemetery, and it soon became an intriguing place I was longing to go to.

Shortly after, I obtained a spot on the team for upcoming an season in 2018. It was in a

different county, so our experience was vastly different than the teams’ who helped in Brooks and Starr Counties before us. We gained an incredible perspective on the legal system’s complications regarding migrant deaths and what happens when counties are overwhelmed by this crisis. However, we were not immersed in the community in the way that previous seasons had been because this particular cemetery was on private land. Eight months later, I presented on our experience. I gained so many skills that I could never have learned from a textbook or classroom, yet I was still completely blind to the magnitude of impact that this project would eventually have on my heart.

This January, a new team accompanied Dr. Latham to Falfurrias: the place where her work had initially started. So many of the townspeople were supportive of our work. One woman brought us oranges from her brother’s tree. Another brought an entire lunch for almost forty of us while we labored in the field one day. The county judge brought us hot pizza. Peggy and Bill Clark hosted all of us at their household for a home-cooked meal. These were incredibly thoughtful yet completely unnecessary acts of kindness. They spent their time and resources to do something nice for numerous people they had never met. I will never feel as though I fully expressed my gratitude.

Visiting the Humanitarian Respite Center was one of the most powerful parts of this trip. It was so personal and emotional to interact with migrants face-to-face. It was one small community of people who had just barely met each other (migrants, volunteers, full-time staff) and were all contributing to the success of the center. Later in the week when we searched for remains on a local ranch, we saw what it was like to walk the paths that these people had to take in order to get here. The images of families from the Respite Center were engraved in my memory as I stumbled across bones, clothing, identification cards, cell phones, and shoes that once belonged to someone. Whoever it was made it all the way to that point before their body gave in to the hardships of nature. I hope that none of my loved ones will ever go through something so horrifying.

Border policy is a complex topic. I cannot pretend that I know all the right answers for this country. It just doesn’t seem right that we should all be so removed and immune to the pain of others. If every person had the opportunity to spend time with the living migrants and the brave individuals and organizations who live with minimal pay as they fight for migrant lives on a daily basis, then perhaps we could discuss these matters with a different tone of voice. If other people truly witnessed the way the deceased are treated when they are not from this side of the border, I am sure it would leave an emotional impact that they could not get from a newspaper or broadcast. So many people never get to know these people at all, yet hold an opinion as to what kind of people they are.

I am truly grateful to have had the chance to return to Texas with Beyond Borders. It has changed me in ways that I never expected, and I appreciate all of the dedication and work that makes this project possible.

I hope to see you again soon, Texas. Best wishes while I’m away.

Sincerely,

Sammi