On the trail of missing border crossers in Webb County, Texas

Abstract

Current immigration policies of “prevention through deterrence” have been shown to increase fatalities at the US/Mexico border. These strategies are designed to remove access to safe areas of the border with the aim of reducing border crossings. One consequence of these deterrents is that they force undocumented border crossers into areas that are more desolate and treacherous. Such policies also come at a time when government officials have openly stated that its facilities to process and identify the remains of unidentified border crossers are overwhelmed. This paper discusses the current state of the identification and repatriation of the remains of undocumented border crossers in South Texas and the formation of the Center for the Study of Undocumented Border Crossers (CSUBC) at Texas A&M International University. CSUBC is a multidisciplinary, collaborative research and teaching center with the goal of assisting the community, academics, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in recording, reporting, and identifying border crosser remains. The hope is that this center will ultimately lead to the repatriation of decedents. This paper outlines the structure of the center, and aims for working with established NGOs and university centers, to bring together subject-matter experts and alleviate the pressures they face.