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Travel Day

Reflections

Our day is coming to an end, and looking back it doesn’t seem real that we accomplished all that we did today! To be honest, I am already feeling tired and cannot fathom what the upcoming days in the actual field will feel like. My tiredness comes from a combination of a lack of sleep from the night before due to nervousness and also in part due to our day starting before the break of dawn. Our first flight was to Dallas, Texas and I really enjoyed that two hour flight because Alba and I took advantage of American Airlines’ free movie downloads. The selection involved a corny “scary” movie, which we committed to watching until the end knowing it was bad.  We had a short layover and our next flight was to San Antonio, Texas. This hour flight involved a nap for a majority of the Beyond Borders team, Sudoku, and reading. Once we landed, we grabbed our luggage, our rental car and to everyone’s surprise, everything ran smoothly.

Team photo at the airport

Before our two and half hour drive to Falfurrias, we made a lunch stop at Torchy’s Tacos. I am still not over how good the sauces that accompany the tacos were. As we made the drive to our final destination, I just kept looking out the window and got a sense as to what kind of terrain we will be working in throughout the next few days. Really thick brush, tall grasses, and a lot of cacti, oh my! During the drive, I also learned that other team members WILL take that unflattering picture of you napping in the car. Once we arrived and got settled into our hotel, we drove to H.E.B., a grocery store which stands for “Here, Everything is Better” and they really live up to their name. The prices are great and they have comfort foods such as tres leches cake and bunuelos. We grabbed essentials like bug spray, shampoo, ibuprofen, and most importantly, snacks! After this errand, we ate at Whataburger, another Texan staple, and had a brief meeting about our game plan for tomorrow. Our team leader, Dr. Latham, passed out our wrist compasses and safety whistles and that is when things started to feel more real for me. Everything we have packed and prepared for will be put to the test tomorrow!  As for now, I am looking forward to getting a good night’s rest because we have to wake up bright and early, and I know it is going to be a long and rewarding day working on repairing and replenishing water stations with the South Texas Human Rights Center.

Tacos from Torchy's

Tanya

“We are waking up in a more dangerous world.”

Human Rights, Migrant Death, Reflections

“We are waking up in a more dangerous world.” is the phrase being repeated by global leaders on January 3, 2020.  This is forcing some to think about how military escalation might impact their personal and family safety in ways they hadn’t considered prior to the US killing of Iran’s top military general. But to others, concerns of personal and family safety are a daily and ongoing concern, and the new global instability is not as eminently dangerous as their immediate surroundings.

Many of the migrants fleeing their home countries have no choice. They are facing unimaginable violence and have little faith in the authorities that are supposed to be protecting them. Crimes go uninvestigated and unprosecuted when authorities are corrupt and controlled by criminal groups.  The Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador are the deadliest countries outside an active war zone. Gangs extort individuals, recruit the young and kill those who cross them or don’t corporate with them. The gangs/cartels oversee drug sales and their violence can extend past locals to rival gangs. Another factor driving migration is violence against women. Sexual violence is a major factor forcing the migration of women and girls from Northern Triangle countries. Femicide, the targeted killing of a woman by a man due to her gender, is frequent and not often investigated when it occurs. Additionally, violence targeted at indigenous groups is forcing them to flee in large numbers.

That’s part of what makes our search missions so emotionally difficult. Not only are we experiencing firsthand the dangerous paths they are walking to escape knowing that “No one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land”. But we are seeing what they are forced to suffer due to policies that limit or belittle asylum. While we know that there are no easy fixes to our immigration policies, it is also difficult to see what our polices are forcing other humans to do to escape for their own personal or family safety. It reinforces our place of privilege and challenges our perceptions when we walk these paths, encounter discarded belongings that were valued but too heavy to keep, see evidence of suffering and observe evidence of death.

Sunny skies and dense thickets
Sunny skies and dense thickets

Our mission over the next week will be to assist local organizations in Brooks County by volunteering our time and forensic expertise to replenish waters stations with the South Texas Human Rights Center and conduct search and recovery operations with Deputy White. Additionally, our mission will provide an intense and immersive educational experience for the team as they navigate conditions and emotions that will push them out of their comfort zones while conducting forensic science in humanitarian contexts.

Thank you for following our work and supporting our mission. Please check back daily for updates from the field.

~KEL

A rookie’s thoughts:

Reflections

It feels unreal that our trip is taking place tomorrow, and that I am actually a part of the team! I have been reading and following the humanitarian crisis seen within the borderlands for quite a while and cannot believe I will be experiencing it first hand.  This trip brings a whirlwind of emotions, mostly consisting of excitement and nervousness. I think it is because of the uncertainty of what to expect, I know being there will be different than anything I can possibly imagine. My motivation to be a part of this effort stems from the fact that I grew up listening to my parents own migration stories from El Salvador and Mexico to the United States of America. My mother made the journey to flee violence from her home country and my father came in search for better opportunities. That is why I am looking forward to partnering with organizations such as the South Texas Human Rights Center (S.T.H.R.C), who holds a mission that advocates for migrant rights as human rights. Our Beyond Borders team will aid the S.T.H.R.C. in rebuilding and replenishing water stations so that individuals with similar reasons for making the journey have water available to them.  I look forward to working alongside passionate individuals such as Sheriff Deputy Don White, who volunteers his time and money to conduct searches and recoveries of distressed migrants. I am looking forward to interacting with community members that are impacted by this crisis every single day and just listening to their stories.

Right now, I am currently sitting in my hometown, contemplating the biggest challenges I will face during our trip to Falfurrias, Texas. The most obvious challenge is the physical toll this trip will have,  it involves walking 10+ miles in desert terrain for five consecutive days. There is no way to prepare for the dangers I may encounter while out there, things like dehydration, snakes, thorny bushes, etc. Another challenge will be the emotional toll this trip will bring.  Walking along the same trails that migrants have succumbed to will be hard.  Encountering individuals that do not believe our volunteer work is beneficial, is another challenge I keep in the back of my mind. We are currently in an era where immigration is a topic that comes with heated debate. It is challenging to think that there are people out there that believe humanitarian aid is a crime.

This trip will impact me in many ways, I will be gaining first hand experience on how to conduct meticulous search and recoveries, an important tool to have as an aspiring forensic anthropologist. I am hoping that being in the field will spark future research ideas, as I want to be able to help expand and refine current methods that aid with the identification of deceased migrants. I want to be a part of the effort responsible for repatriating missing loved ones to their homes and families. I believe that being a part of this trip will be a step stone in that direction.

Tanya