Falfurrias, Texas is a town in Brooks County in the southern portion of the state. It is most noted for being home to an important permanent Border Patrol checkpoint on U.S. Route-281. In recent years, officials have apprehended more undocumented immigrants at the Falfurrias checkpoint than at any other permanent Border Patrol checkpoint in the United States. Although Falfurrias is 70 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border (Brooks County does not even border Mexico), this checkpoint has a profound effect on undocumented immigrants who sneak across the border. It is situated on one of only two major highways leading north out of the Rio Grande Valley, and the other highway is policed by a similar checkpoint in the town of Sarita (Fernandez). These checkpoints effectively prevent a huge portion of the undocumented population of the valley from leaving the region. For the last 20 years, the Border Patrol has been shifting its focus and resources away from the Rio Grande Valley in favor of other areas of high activity along the border (Isacson and Mayer, 6). This development, combined with the difficulties associated with building border fences along the unpredictable Rio Grande, has resulted in a marked increase in illegal immigration to the region over the last few years. As Mary Fernandez points out in an article for the New York Times, the checkpoints to the north keep this large new undocumented population confined to an area sometimes referred to as “’la juala de oro’ – the golden cage” (Fernandez).
One major effect of the checkpoint is its impact on the health of undocumented immigrants to the south. Their confinement to a specific region makes their options for advanced medical even more limited than those of most other undocumented persons. The checkpoints block these individuals from accessing superior hospitals and medical facilities in the north. The Rio Grande Valley has a worse economy than the rest of Texas, and it has been plagued by a shortage of medical professionals for years (Warner and Jahnke, 41). Fernandez cites the example of a single mother who has a son with Down Syndrome along with a host of serious health problems. As an undocumented immigrant, this mother is unable to take her child to hospitals in the north where he might be able to get the care he needs (Fernandez). Statistics have shown that health in the region south of the checkpoint is of a lower quality than the rest of Texas, with health problems ranging from pre-natal complications to diabetes exhibiting a greater relative prevalence in the Rio Grande Valley (Warner and Jahnke, 20-22).
Despite such numerous health concerns, the most infamous effect of the checkpoint at Falfurrias is the many deaths of undocumented immigrants attempting to circumvent the obstacle. From 2009 to 2015, 459 dead bodies were found in the wilderness of Brooks County (Fernandez). With little evidence to the contrary, activists assert that almost all of these deaths were undocumented migrants who died from either dehydration or heat exhaustion while attempting to go around the Falfurrias checkpoint. Such a journey is extremely dangerous, with rough, dry terrain and temperatures that regularly exceed 100 degrees. In addition, most of the migrants attempting this detour start it immediately after being exhausted by crossing the border and walking to Brooks County (Isacson and Meyer, 7).
The debate over the confinement of undocumented immigrants to areas close to the border often echoes the more general debate surrounding illegal immigration. When asked to comment on the deaths of migrants attempting to avoid Border Patrol checkpoints, George Rodriguez, a conservative activist from San Antonio, stated that “’You come in legally, and then you don’t face the complications’” (Fernandez). This simple statement is typical of the conservative viewpoint on the subject, and many Texans agree with Rodriguez. These people consider undocumented immigrants to be guilty of a criminal act and believe that they are responsible for any negative consequences of their actions. There are others, however, who argue that the health and safety of undocumented immigrants should be take precedence over their legal status. For example, many local activist groups have begun to set up water stations along common smuggling routes in the hopes of preventing more migrant deaths (Isacson and Meyer, 8).
Works Cited
Fernandez, Manny. “Checkpoints Isolate Many Immigrants in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. The New York Times. N.p., 22 Nov. 2015. Web. 8 Feb. 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11 /23/us /checkpoints-isolate-many-immigrants-in-texas-rio-grande-valley.html?r=0&_r=0
Isacson, Adam, and Maureen Meyer. On the Front Lines: Border Security, Migration, and Humanitarian Concerns in South Texas. Rep. N.p.: Washington Office on Latin America, 2015. Web.
Warner, David C., and Lauren R. Jahnke. U.S./Mexico Border Health Issues: The Texas Rio Grande Valley. Rep. San Antonio, TX: Regional Center for Health Workforce Studies at The U of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 2003. Web.
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