Category Archives: Human Rights, Migrant Death

We have spent the last three days working at the  Texas State University Osteology Research and Processing Laboratory (ORPL) located on the Freeman Ranch. Our main goal in visiting the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State is to conduct skeletal analyses on unidentified migrants recovered in Brooks County Texas. Over the course of two years (2013-2014), the University of Indianapolis team worked with teams from Baylor University to exhume over 100 unidentified individuals from the Sacred Heart Burial Park in Falfurrias. Brooks County no longer buries its identifieds, so in addition to those exhumed individuals needing forensic anthropology analysis there are additional individuals that have been and continue to be recovered from the county needing attention as well. The recoveries and exhumations happen very quickly but the skeletal analyses take a much longer time. Therefore, there are still individuals needing a forensic anthropology analysis in order to begin the identification process. Many of these unidentified individuals were (and are) brought to Texas State University for analysis as part of their Operation Identification initiative. Last summer and this summer we volunteered to visit Texas State for a week of intensive focus on skeletal analyses. Last year the UIndy team and teams from Texas State and other universities completed 15 skeletal analyses in five days.  We are on track to do that again. It is amazing watching so many dedicated volunteers passionately working towards identifying these individuals.

In addition to working on the skeletal cases, the UIndy team has been offered other opportunities to participate in the identification process.  We routinely do forensic casework in Indiana, but we only bring the skeletal elements back to our lab for a scientific examination. All personal effects and associated evidence go with local law enforcement.  This week the UIndy students were given the opportunity to work with the personal effects of the unidentified migrants. They removed the items during intake, washed them and documented the items (with photos and notes).  This is a valuable learning experience for the UIndy team. It not only provides a learning opportunity but also a way to see another side of this humanitarian crisis.

This week the UIndy and Texas State teams have analyzed 11 cases to date.  UIndy was given a goal of 8 cases and I think we will meet and might even exceed that number. That means more individuals that are entering the identification process. Plus, once we get through the backlog of individuals that need forensic analyses we can begin to focus on the exhumations again.

~KEL

For this post, I will focus on some of the more recent challenges at the South Texas Human Rights Center. Most of the work done at the center in the past focused on identifying those who lost their lives in Brooks County. Legislation was pushed to allow death certificates of the unidentified to become public record so that investigations could be made into the deaths of these individuals. Processes in Brooks County changed to make the system more efficient and effective at identifying the unknown. Collaborations were formed with other agencies and non-government organizations so that more information about those who went missing could be shared, ultimately assisting families and agencies investigating disappearances find their loved ones.

More recently, however, the South Texas Human Rights Center has played a major role in locating those who go missing within the past few days. We’ve had several success stories within the past few months where those who went missing are found alive, taken to hospitals, and ultimately reunited with their worried family members. It’s always a difficult situation, but we’re proud to live up to one of our goals: save migrant lives.

Looking for missing people along the border is extremely difficult for a number of reasons:

– the land that migrants are passing through is private ranch land. We can not search this land without permission from the owner. Ranch owners are very aware that migrants are using their land, but unlike Arizona, there  is no option to search the land without the owner’s permission.

– the land lacks specific landmarks that are easy to locate. In Arizona, the mountain ranges in the Sonoran Desert often provide a constant landmark that can be used to navigate; Texas land is flat. Migrants use phone lines, pipe lines, and fences to navigate north-to-south. This makes most missing persons reports extremely vague, simply because there are not many landmarks to reference. Border Patrol often relies on descriptions of fences (short and square shaped, tall and rectangular shaped) to figure out where someone could be.

– Combining the above information, information is vague, and even when it isn’t, is still unaccessible.

But we’ve had successes, many successes. As of today, since February of this year, we have found 28 people who were recently lost. Most of these individuals are eventually deported, but that’s a different story. At this point, what matters is that family members who call us are able to find out that their loved ones are alive. Sometimes it’s as simple as finding out that someone was apprehended last week. But often times, it takes unique collaborations between Arizona NGOs, us, and Border Patrol, to effectively locate and save someone’s loved one from an almost-certain death.

There are so many political and ethical roles that could be debated about these rescues. And for us at the STHRC, we are open to these conversations. They are important. Regardless, however, we must remember that as of right now, we are saving human lives. People are being sent to hospitals to heal. And each case involves multiple collaborations involving agencies of all kinds. Of course, if we think of systemic issues in home countries, there are many issues that still need to be addressed all over the Western Hemisphere. But we must keep in mind the small roles that we are playing in saving lives, and right now, that’s what matters.

Every day we respond to these cases. And every day I thank the individuals who talk to the families and reassure them that everything is being done to find their loved ones. I thank the multiple NGOs who stand up for the rights of these families to make sure that proper investigations and searches are conducted. I thank the Border Patrol agents who search for those who are lost. I thank the consulates who do everything they can to make sure that all agencies are are being held accountable. When it comes to these rescues, expertise comes down to experience and to patience and a heart of gold. I constantly thank those who teach me, directly or indirectly, what it means to apply skills to saving lives.

Ryan