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Return to Texas

General, Snapshots

As I prepare for my third trip to Texas, I find myself just as excited as I was for the previous trips. I’ll be working with Jordan and Izzy again, as well as our rookie, Kaitlyn. I’m looking forward to all of us working together because we all get along really well and have great chemistry. Jordan, Izzy, and I learned how to work together as a cohesive, functional team on our last trip, and I’m ready to test our abilities in a different environment and embrace Kaitlyn into the Beyond Borders team, too.

Three team members on the airplane during the May 2022 trip
Jordan, me, and Izzy on our trip in May

However, this trip also makes me nervous because we don’t really know what we are walking into. We won’t be returning to Falfurrias; instead, we’re going to Eagle Pass, Texas to work with Texas State University and other professional organizations. We’ll only be about a mile from the Texas-Mexico border in an area with an extremely high amount of migrants crossing the border. Eagle Pass is currently inundated with migrants and medicolegal professionals, so we’ll be entering the eye of the storm.

A country road in South TX

I’m intrigued that we will have an opportunity to participate in a different type of work than what we’ve done on our previous trips. Instead of line searches on ranchland, we’ll get to learn and utilize forensic archeology skills on this trip while we work to repatriate migrants who unfortunately perished to their homes and loved ones. We also get to work with the Texas State students and faculty as well as other medicolegal professionals. It’s always nerve-racking meeting new people and trying to make different methods and practices flow seamlessly, but I’m up for the challenge. I’m really excited because Deputy White and Eddie will be there, too! I can’t wait to see them again and hear what they’ve been up to since I last saw them.

Deputy Don White
Don!
Eddie Canales
Eddie!

The weather in Eagle Pass looks like it’ll vary from a little chilly in the 40s to the 70s and sunny, which is a welcome change from the extremely hot and humid weather we had on the last trip in May, but also a lot better than the weather we have in Indy. I’ve already started packing, and I’m hoping I have everything I need without my bag being too heavy (I usually end up cutting it pretty close to the 50lbs cut-off because I’m a chronic over-packer). Everything is currently scattered across the living room floor, and my dog keeps trying to blend into it, in hopes that I’ll pack her too. Unfortunately, she’s too big and fluffy to be packed, but it’s a valiant effort!

Olivia

A New Journey

General, Snapshots
January 2022 Team
January 2022 Team – Layers just as important for warmth as well as protection

Being chosen to return to Texas is a privilege I am greatly thankful for. The impact these trips have had on my life is immeasurable. Before the trip, my priorities are to pack efficiently and for any possible scenario. I learned in my trip to Texas last January that, even though it’s Texas, I am still not acclimated to the cold temperatures, so along with packing for warm temperatures, I am packing for even colder winter temperatures. I anticipate we will be learning from a vast number of perspectives from the different teams and individuals involved. I am once again thankful to be a part of a team that takes the time to come together each day and debrief on what happened throughout the day. The difference in our pre-trip posts and our post-trip reflections is usually extremely obvious. As this will be a very new experience for me, I anticipate my post-trip post will include a lot about lessons learned, and I have a feeling there will be many more life lessons than technical lessons reflected upon (also as usual!). The technical skills we learn are invaluable, as well are the life lessons that stay in our thoughts every single day.

Our motto “Expect the unexpected” is already proving true as this trip to Texas will be much different than originally planned. The work we will be doing is vastly different than my previous experiences with the Beyond Borders team. We will be venturing to Maverick County, about two miles from the Texas-Mexico Border, to assist colleagues at Texas State University and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Not only will the team be gaining and expanding their technical skills to assist with good forensic anthropology work but we will also be further broadening our perspective on the humanitarian crisis occurring at the border. The experience Eagle Pass is having with the border crisis varies from Falfurrias in the factors that influence and impact the cities and individuals passing through the cities. We have read a number of articles to prepare for what we may encounter in Eagle Pass, but nothing can truly prepare us for what we will see and learn within the community.

Wall at the TX/Mexico Border
Wall at Border from May 2022 Trip

Regardless of the difference in plan, our motivation and goals remain. Stay tuned for more updates!

– Izzy

A country road in south Texas

Sometimes the Hardest Thing to Do is the Right Thing

Community, Environment, General, Human Rights, Migrant Death, Reflections

My first trip to Brooks County Texas was in May 2013. With that initial and each subsequent trip, my understanding of immigration and the crisis along our southern border has changed. As have my thoughts on how the Beyond Borders team can contribute to the prolonged mass disaster situation facing many counties in south Texas. I will focus this post on what we learn and what we take from these trips. To date, thirty University of Indianapolis students and faculty have participated in at least one Beyond Borders mission to the Texas borderlands.  Our trips focus on quality over quantity, in that a small group of students travel each time for a truly immersive experience. The goals are 1) to provide the practical forensic anthropology and forensic archeology skills of our program and 2) to provide an immersive and transformative experience for the students that focuses on empathy and global interconnectedness.

Team members searching the brush in south TX
Line Search

With every trip I learn from the people around me. From the community members who are immersed in this environment year-round, to colleagues who are also contributing in various capacities, to my students who depart Indiana full of energy asking just the right questions to consider things from yet another angle. This trip we were able to briefly meet with Sheriff Benny Martinez. I haven’t seen him since our January 2019 trip. He is a big reason why this work has continued and the success in exhumations and identifications in Brooks County has been a model for other counties in South Texas. He always says something that puts things into perspective for me. This time he said “Sometimes the hardest thing to do is the right thing”. He was telling the team about how things have changed over the years in regards to preventing deaths and immigration policies. Things have gotten so political that people say and do what they think that have to rather than what they know is right.

Team members searching the brush in south Texas
Line Search

Changes in perspective often do not occur until a person or someone close to them is directly impacted. That is why empathy is such an important goal of these trips. To experience how one’s own assumptions and perspectives influence their thoughts or behaviors, and how immersive experiences can be used to question those assumptions is powerful.  Extending that to understand that one’s own life experiences create the lens for how they view all situations and stepping back to consider another’s feelings or experiences can create a better understanding of the world we live in. I hope my team always chooses the right thing, even when it’s the hardest path. Experiencing global connections is also important in that it shows how we are all connected as humans regardless of geography, political or other social borders. We can work together to do the right thing, even we have different ideas and perspectives.

May 2022 Beyond Borders Team

Every trip I watch the team transform with each day in the Texas borderlands. They grow not only as professional forensic scientists but in so many other ways as well. They learn the power of teamwork and friendship. I allow each team member to contribute ideas to our plans to build confidence in their own abilities. Just telling them what to do does not help them grow. But placing them in an environment where their contributions are heard and valued is important for their personal and professional growth.  This group was no exception. I am proud of their work and growth in the especially harsh environmental conditions of this trip. I am proud of what we accomplished as a team.

~KEL