Our trip to Eagle Pass has come to an end. Though I traveled to Texas last May and was able to experience one facet of the crisis occurring along the border, what I experienced on this trip was wholly different. To see the way migrants are being treated, thrown into a haphazardly dug hole, often with trash, is beyond horrific. The treatment of these individuals was something I naively was unsuspecting of. Going in, I thought I would most likely see awful things, but humans do not deserve to be treated this way, regardless of the situation. However, I did not expect to see what I did.
Many of the atrocities occurring at the border are not something people are able to fathom while so far removed from the situation. Experiencing it firsthand does not allow me to fully comprehend how these acts are able to occur and what the motivations are for those closely involved. However, I hope to take what I have experienced and share it with others so that I can bring awareness of what is happening to these individuals to those who may not know.
The situation at this cemetery, among many others, is terrible, to say the least. However, seeing so many different groups of people coming together to attempt to mend the situation and get the word out about what is occurring at this location was heartening. There were reporters there, from Texas as well as Mexico, to provide accounts of these circumstances. To see another group like Texas State University work as passionately in this situation as we did was great. It was also nice to see our team come together and work so hard and efficiently for something we all care about so strongly. We functioned very well together, and I feel we were able to complete a significant amount of work during our time in Eagle Pass.
Traveling back home causes a lot of complex feelings to rise to the surface. It is difficult to see what occurs to these individuals and to hear what they went through and then return to my everyday life. I am incredibly privileged to be in the position I am, which can be challenging to contend with when I see what many migrants face. I strive to continue to utilize this knowledge to spread awareness and communicate with others about this crisis. Though this trip was difficult physically and emotionally, I am extremely grateful I was able to experience it and learn the many lessons I did. These lessons not only contribute to my education and application of forensic practices, but more importantly, they contribute to my growth as a person, and I am thankful for that.
Day 6 was quite the day. We started out with some hotel breakfast, including Texas shaped waffles, eggs, refried beans, and a much needed Emergen-C, to get us ready for the day as we knew it was supposed to be the hottest temperatures of our time in Texas. Once we arrived at the cemetery, we set out to work on a burial we had begun yesterday. We rotated in teams of two using a mattock to remove portions of the wall and trowels to remove smaller debris to reveal the edges of the burial. As we learned more about our plans for the day, we split our team to work on two burials. Kaitlyn and Jordan worked on fully exposing the burial from yesterday, while Olivia and I began removing debris and tracing some promising clues to find the individual suspected to be in said burial and Dr. Latham switched between the two.
Our glove disposal ceremony
Our communication as a team has grown so much. One of the most repeated comments during our meetings on where we can improve has been spatial awareness, knowing where we are and what we are doing in regards to not only others but the tools, burial, and burial walls. I think Olivia and I bonked heads at least 12 times today, BUT we worked so efficiently with one another we almost didn’t need to say what our next move was because the other was already ready to help. For most of the day, the two of us were working almost upside down, having to take small breaks to allow the blood to go where it’s supposed to after pooling in our heads. As we continued to work, Kaitlyn and Jordan had fully exposed their burial and were ready for measurements. Together, we completed the measurements, composed a strategy for a safe and efficient burial removal, and successfully moved as one. We also learned this individual already has a suspected ID hypothesis.
We then had lunch. Lunch is a good time for us to decompress a bit, stretch, get rehydrated and replenished from our hard work. Today, we took an extended lunch break in an effort to respect a funeral that was beginning in the cemetery. We understand cemeteries are places where people come to honor their loved ones who have passed and would never want them to feel as though our work comes before their grieving. Once the funeral attendees began to leave, we decided to slowly and discretely get back to work.
After lunch, Jordan and Kaitlyn moved down to work with Olivia and I as Dr. Latham was on bucket duty. Excavating burials can be very tricky. Although general direction can be assumed, depth is variable. The ground is rarely level when an individual is placed in the ground, so we must always proceed with caution. As the Texas heat rose, we decided to use our timer and switch out our teams to be able to continue to do our best work and stay healthy. Eventually, we had completely uncovered the burial. We marked our corners and performed our measurements. As Texas State’s team took their measurements, the decision was made to wait to remove the individual from the burial site until morning as it would be too hot for the team in the intake tent. By the time you read this, Texas State’s team will have removed the individual and be working towards collecting information for an ID.
Don talking to one of the media outlets
One new challenge we faced was having media present. Individuals from different news/media outlets were on site filming, taking pictures, and talking to some of the site leaders. This creates a few challenges. Having a camera filming your every move or in your face can be off-putting, but in pictures, videos, etc, things can very easily be misconstrued. Not only that but we, as team members, represent our professor, our lab, and our university, so we want to minimize any possible confusion or controversy. We direct all questions to Dr. Latham. She is our team leader and is the appropriate person to answer questions. We also often talk to one another and provide encouragement when a team member makes an accomplishment. We tend to smile, sometimes often depending on what’s going on. We would never want this to be misconstrued as “having fun” or being disrespectful while performing such delicate and important work. We care intensely about what we do, and to have that be misunderstood would be extremely unfortunate.
Since our last work day had now come to an end, we did a final exploration of a possible burial in close proximity to our exposed burial, cleaned our equipment, and had our final ice cold Coke as a team. We also had a little ceremony for our gloves that were definitely not coming back in our suitcases after the week we’ve had. We finished up the day with a great dinner with Deputy Don White, Eddie, and Dr. Spradley before coming back to the hotel to have our final debrief and clean the rest of our personal gear for travel.
Don and his favorite tourist
Our last day debrief is different from the rest because we have a few different questions than usual, one housekeeping and one personal. Along with saying what we did well and any equipment we may need to change for upcoming trips, we discuss coming back to normal life and how hard that adjustment can be. [I am going to save many of my thoughts for my post-trip post.] We talked about how we are a team even when we return to Indy and to lean on each other when needed.
Saying goodbye not only to everyone we made such great connections with here but also to the work we have devoted ourselves to for our time here is hard. I’m thankful for the opportunity to have helped make even a minute difference.
Jordan and I excavating while Izzy and Kaitlyn look on
We woke up this morning sore from all of the work we did yesterday but ready to get back to it. We ate breakfast at the hotel, where Izzy had an awesome Texas-shaped waffle. After loading all of our gear, we hopped into Monica (who is not smelling too great after our long work days in the heat) and headed off to the cemetery.
We began working on the burial we had started to expose at the end of the day yesterday. This involved more use of the mattock to bring down a wall and removing larger chunks of dirt as we went. Somehow, Izzy and Jordan managed to hit rocks with the mattock hard enough that there were sparks flying. The weather was pretty cool in the morning, so we got to take longer turns, and the wall came down pretty quickly. Deputy Don White was standing by to provide his (sassy) advice and expertise and answer all of my random questions about his life while helping dump our buckets of dirt. Our team has really found our groove, and we worked very quickly and efficiently. Both Texas State and our team were able to remove individuals before lunch.
Our lunch break was extended for an extremely important visitor to the site. A family member of one of the identified individuals who had been removed on Texas State’s previous excavation in November 2022 came to see where their loved one had been laid to rest. It was an emotional time for everyone. I know nothing can bring their loved one back, but I hope they were able to find what they were searching for from their visit. For me, seeing their reaction helped reinforce how important the work we are doing here is. These are real people and real families that have experienced great tragedy. I wish the work we are doing wasn’t needed and that these families were still whole, but, hopefully, we can help them find at least a little bit of closure.
When their visit was over, it was time for the backhoe to fill in the excavated graves and remove several feet of dirt from our next areas, so we didn’t have to spend hours manually digging through the rock-hard, sun-bleached top layer of dirt. When they were done, our team jumped in and got to work excavating the next burial. By this time, it was pretty hot and sunny, so we started up our timer and worked for 3-4 minutes in teams of two before switching. At least, we were only supposed to work for 3-4 minutes, but we always managed to finagle an extra minute or two because we didn’t want to stop.
Mapping in our points
We finished up for the day, took some quick showers, and went out for a delicious dinner at Yopo’s. I’m sad that tomorrow will be our last day working in Eagle Pass, but we have done a lot this week to be proud of. Our team has really learned to work well together. We check in on each other consistently to make sure everyone is taking breaks when needed and drinking enough water. This week has allowed us to learn valuable skills as well as grow closer as a team. We’ve come to expect the unexpected and be flexible, and the experiences we’ve had and the memories we’ve made are ones I will carry with me.
A surprise photo left on Dr. Latham’s (unattended) phone
