Category Archives: Human Rights, Migrant Death

Talking about the project itself

Day 9

Human Rights, Migrant Death, Snapshots
Group photo of Beyond Borders team members with nine fingers in the air on day 9
Day 9

Today we continued skeletal analyses on the unidentified migrants that are being curated at Texas State University.  It’s only Wednesday and the team of multiple organizations working at Texas State this week has accomplished a lot.  While the skeletal analyses don’t attract as much media attention as the exhumations, this is really the reason that the exhumations were conducted in the first place: to begin a forensic investigation into the identity of these unknown individuals.  The team has struggled this week to write blog posts because we are spending our days handling the skeletal remains and we don’t believe it’s appropriate to include photos of the bones in this blog.  But there is still a lot of progress being made that needs to be highlighted.

Students from across the country have come to participate in various aspects of the identification process. From processing the remains, to cleaning the personal items, to skeletal analysis, to database entry, to molecular and microscopic analyses.  This week demonstrates it truly takes a village to work towards each identification.

Group of students engaged in discussion at a round table in front of a white board

Most of the organizations involved are volunteering their time, so the processing and skeletal analyses usually proceed rather slowly.  There was a backlog of 15 individuals that have been cleaned but need skeletal analyses and case reports.  We are almost to that goal already.

Team member working on case file paperwork on a clipboardAmanda recording information about the individual in the case file.

Team member looking through a pathology textbookJustin referencing a pathology book.

Team member handling a swab with gloves on for DNA sample collectionRyan collecting samples for DNA analysis.

~KEL

Patrolling the Border

Environment, Human Rights, Migrant Death

Pictured above is the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint.  The highway it blockades, US 281, spans from Mexico to the Canada border.  It is one of the many ways the U.S. Border Patrol polices our borders.

Falfurrias checkpoint sign stating year-to-date seizures of 15,593 drug seizures and 10,162 migrant seizuresI learned a lot about the different methods agents use on this trip.  Please allow me to give you a brief tour of a few of them.

The border wall with a hazard sign outfront stating "Watch for oncoming traffic"Perhaps the most obvious is the fence at the border.  It lies on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande.  It is a stretch of steel and steep cliffs.  It is also lined with many remote sensing devices.  We were in this location for only a matter of moments before Border Patrol arrived to greet us.

Upclose image of the metal panels of the border wallThe fence does not span, the entire length of the border, but where it does it is quite intimidating.  There are stories about migrants trying to sneak past, only to be killed by the slow crushing force of the mechanical gates.

Warning signs in English and Spanish stating "Warning Gate can cause serious injury or death"Another new addition to the arsenal of the Border Patrol is the aerostat.  The aerostat is a tethered dirigible that is outfitted with cutting edge technology.

An aerostate surveying in the Texas sky over the brushThat tiny blimp in the background is the aerostat.  Each one costs roughly $2.5 millions dollars.  It has the capabilities of surveying over 20 miles.  It is also equipped with thermal and night-vision.  It can remotely survey vast areas of desert that would otherwise be nearly impossible.

A zoomed-in image of the aerostat in the Texas skyEven with my largest zoom lens,  the aerostat is barely visible in the distance.

High-wire power lines extending as far as the eye can see in a small opening in the brushThe tract of land above is colloquially known as “The High-Wire”.  The high-wire is a swath of power lines that runs due north, making it a perfect landmark for migrants to follow (especially in an otherwise landmark-less terrain).  It is also peppered with remote sensing devices.  This makes it a powerful tracking device for Border Patrol, and a dangerous pathway for any migrants.

A paved road bordered by a dirt maintenance roadIn addition to all of the high-tech patrolling methods, border patrol also uses several low-tech methods.  Most of the ranches in South Texas are surrounded by dirt maintenance roads.  The maintenance roads on the inside of the fence are mainly used by the ranchers.  The maintenance roads on the outside of the fence are heavily utilized by the Border Patrol.

Three discarded tires viewed through trees on the dirt roadTires like these are dragged with chains behind vehicle to grate the road.  After the road is grated, Border Patrol can track footprints across the dirt pathways.

These are just a few of the many tools that the U.S. Border Patrol uses to detect individuals crossing the border.

Justin

Day 7

Human Rights, Migrant Death, Snapshots
Group picture of Beyond Borders team members holding up 7 fingers for day 7 while at a restaurant
Day 7

Today was our first day doing skeletal analyses at Texas State University.  We are doing the skeletal analyses at the Osteology Research and Processing Lab (ORPL) facility.  This is one of several anthropological research facilities at Texas State University.  Once the individuals were exhumed from the Sacred Heart Burial Park in the summers of 2013 and 2014, about 75 of them were transported to the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF).  As the faculty and student volunteers are able to clean and process the bodies, they are transported to ORPL.  At ORPL the personal items are cleaned and documented and the body prepared for analysis.  The forensic anthropologists then construct a biological profile, which reconstructs the individual’s living characteristics.   The ORPL currently has a backlog of individuals needing forensic anthropology analysis.  That is why we volunteered to visit Texas State, to assist with the skeletal analyses of the individuals.UIndy student setting up some paperwork on an open table

The UIndy team set up it’s analysis station in the front classroom of ORPL.  We brought all the forms and equipment we needed to conduct analysis with us.

Two Beyond Borders Team Members opening a box with paper evidence bags within

Ryan and I are both from Texas.  Our moms both decided to come visit us this evening.  They planned to arrive around the same time to San Marcos and got to the lab in time for a quick tour.  After that we went to dinner and enjoyed a round of half priced appetizers and guacamole, queso burgers.  It was nice to have our moms there for a visit and for them to see what we were doing during our time volunteering at Texas State University.

~KEL