The Impact of Interior Checkpoints on the Borderland Population of South Texas

Discipline: – Anthropology

Type of service: Research Paper

Spacing: Double spacing

Paper format: MLA

Number of pages: 15 pages

Number of sources: 0 source

Paper details:

Currently there are an estimated 130,000 undocumented immigrants constrained to living in the sliver of the United States known as The Rio Grande Valley, an area between the Mexican border and the Border Patrol Interior Immigration checkpoints about 100 miles north. It is those checkpoints that have created an anomalous living for those in this part of the country. This paper examines to what extent Border Patrol checkpoints hinder and harm human experience in the borderland region. Through ethnographic accounts, relevant political and economic context, as well as quantitative data about migration and migrants deaths due to the militarization of the border, this paper explores key issues that affect this population, including fractured family dynamics, impact on education and healthcare, living with perpetual sense of fear and entrapment, and even the risk of death. Good focus This paper will walk through the changes created by the increase of border militarization- outlining the ways in which these interior checkpoints have altered communities up until the present day. This paper will also provide political and economic context surrounding the establishment of border patrol checkpoints- specifically targeting current checkpoints in Texas such as the Falfurrias, Brownsville, and Sarita checkpoints. By learning and knowing of the struggles many communities face as a consequence of the current interior checkpoints, leaders can better understand the borderlands and be better equipped to extend humanitarian efforts to create lasting change for the people of the border.

So you’re looking at the region at the southern tip of Texas, correct? Does that mean these are communities on the U.S. side, or will you also be incorporating those on the Mexican side?

Also you mention that there are 130,000 undocumented immigrants living in this area, and what about U.S. citizens (particularly Tejanos and other Latinxs)?

SOURCES

The Migration Policy Institute: https://www.migrationpolicy.org.

De León, Jason. (2015). The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail. Oakland, CA: University of California Press Yes, but consider that his work focuses on the Sonoran-Arizona region. Can you look for books that look at South Texas?

Fernandez, Manny. “Checkpoints Isolate Many Immigrants (and I’m guessing also U.S.-born Latinos) in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.” The New York Times. Nov 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/us/checkpoints-isolate-many-immigrants-in-texas-rio-grande-valley.html, Accessed March 15, 2018.

Ainpour, Shaheen. “Death At The Southern Border An Increasing Risk For Migrants.” National Public Radio. July 25, 2017, https://www.npr.org/2017/07/25/539263390/death-at-the-southern-border-an-increasing-risk-for-migrants Accessed March 15, 2018.

“How Americans, Mexicans see each other differs for those closer to border” Pew Research Center. Oct 25, 2017, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/25/how-americans-mexicans-see-each-other-differs-for-those-closer-to-border/ Accessed March 20, 2018. Ok, good sorce

“At Border Patrol Checkpoints, An Impossible choice between Healthcare and Deportation.” The Texas Observer. Febuary 18, 2018, https://www.texasobserver.org/border-patrol-checkpoints-impossible-choice-health-care-deportation/ Accessed March 20, 2018. Good

Werman, Marco and Margolis, Jason.“Texas Border Residents Argue Against More Security.” Public Radio International. March 18, 2013, https://www.pri.org/stories/2013-03-18/texas-border-residents-argue-against-more-security Accessed March 20, 2018. Very good

Check out some of the chapters in The U.S.-Mexico Transborder Region: Cultural Dynamics and Historical Interactions. Part 4

-e.g. Ch.15. Neoliberal Regimes, Research Methods, Local Activism: Border Steel, Environmental Justice, and Health in a Texas-Mexico Border Colonia, etc.

-Also, look at some professors who do research in the Rio Grande Valley, like Margaret A. Graham, https://webapps.utrgv.edu/aa/dm/index.cfm?action=profile&user=margaret.graham.

-Attached is an article I found through a simple google scholar search. I’m sure you can find some useful articles through the Brown library system as well.

Julissa Mendoza

March 20, 2018

Final Paper Topic Proposal

ABSTRACT

Currently there are an estimated 130,000 undocumented immigrants constrained to living in the sliver of the United States known as The Rio Grande Valley, an area between the Mexican Border and the Border Patrol Interior Immigration checkpoints about 100 miles north. It is those checkpoints that have created an anomalous living for those in this part of the country. This paper examines to what extent Border Patrol checkpoints hinder and harm human experience in the borderland region. Through ethnographic accounts, relevant political and economic context, as well as quantitative data about migration and migrants deaths due to the militarization of the border, this paper explores key issues that affect this population, including fractured family dynamics, impact on education and healthcare, living with perpetual sense of fear and entrapment, and even the risk of death. This paper will walk through the changes created by the increase of border militarization- outlining the ways in which these interior checkpoints have altered communities up until the present day. This paper will also provide political and economic context surrounding the establishment of border patrol checkpoints- specifically targeting current checkpoints in Texas such as the Falfurrias, Brownsville, and Sarita checkpoints. By learning and knowing of the struggles many communities face as a consequence of the current interior checkpoints, leaders can better understand the borderlands and be better equipped to extend humanitarian efforts to create lasting change for the people of the border.

SOURCES

The Migration Policy Institute: https://www.migrationpolicy.org.

De León, Jason. (2015). The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail. Oakland, CA: University of California Press

Fernandez, Manny. “Checkpoints Isolate Many Immigrants in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.” The New York Times. Nov 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/us/checkpoints-isolate-many-immigrants-in-texas-rio-grande-valley.html, Accessed March 15, 2018.