LATE & CURRENT COLONIZATION

The divide between the two nations began even before the construction of the border wall. The colonizers had ingrained inner separation from others - separated an individual from the collective, and the individual from the self upon their arrival. For the border to be built, it must be inside oneself first. The materialization of this inner illness came first in the form of a cattle fence, separating ‘my’ cattle from ‘your’ cattle, my resource from your resource, my property from your property. Separating animals from land. Animals from humans. Human from other humans. This inner colonizer spread through forced assimilation and as a survival instinct. It has changed shape throughout the years since the colonizers arrived in the 1500s. As the divide between humans, the land, the waters, and other beings intensified, the border was further constructed along the Rio Grande. The colonization of the Spaniards created the divide between mixed and indigenous, a tactic used so that these new mixed people would not return home - would not gather with the communities the Spaniards hoped to extinguish. Thus, a new identity was given to these mixed people: mestizos, or Mexicans. Neither Spanish nor Indigenous, with promises to be treated more as a Spaniard unfulfilled. Always remembered and treated closer to how our Indigenous relatives were. The phases of American colonization that occurred in the 1800s, like the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, left many of these mestizos on new American soil, displaced, or killed. American colonization further alienated these Mexicans living in America. On paper being called White, yet treated as a Mexican. While the Spaniard colonization separated mestizos and Indigenous people, American colonization separated Mexicans from Americans and completely disregarded the Indigenous within these populations. However, they were given a new identity, Mexican-American. The colonizers always used the tactic of internal separation to make physical separation possible. 

The cattle fence then became a fence, a border, not only for animals but for humans as well. In the mid-1900s, what we now know as the border wall, began to be constructed and has continued to be enforced and protected through militarization. The border wall looms over the landscape, fragmenting our already divided environment and people. Along the Rio Grande River, people in lifeless green suits stand tall and proud, guns threatening to be pulled from their waists at any moment, particularly at the sight of brown bodies. The only thing scarier than being caught and the high risk of death is seeing your own skin looking down at you, with most of our Border Patrol agents in the Valley being Mexican themselves. Within El Valle, more than 3,000 Border Patrol agents prey along the border, with 9 stations, two checkpoints, and air and marine operations looming across our lands. 

The Valley is one of the most militarized, fenced, and secluded areas in the United States, with a checkpoint at San Antonio and border patrol on the edges of the Rio Grande Valley. Unknowingly, we are the only region that is caged, a small distance away from being landlocked by police bodies, with our entrance and exit of the Valley heavily monitored.

The creation of the border wall, its inhumane structure with razor wire, and enforcement through the Border Patrol caused the deaths of many migrating people. There have been increased deaths recently as a result of the extreme environmental conditions as migrants are forced to take more extreme routes to cross. If they manage to pass the border wall, they face the constant threat of Border Patrol, who are known to take advantage of their power. Border Patrol agents forcefully separate families, racially discriminate, use excessive force, are part of the child and human trafficking ring, and commit sexual violence against migrants. The border wall and its enforcement have created a myriad of issues ranging from social, environmental, political, and humanitarian issues. It has been proven to be ineffective at stopping human migration but has been effective in harming our communities, lands, water, and animals through the use of violent, invasive, and coercive tactics.

In the Rio Grande Valley, the border wall has caused at least 1,600 deaths according to Border Patrol documentation from the years 1998-2019. However, many more deaths go unaccounted for as the bodies of refugees are lost on the land, carried away by the river, hidden by the agents so as to avoid repercussions, or are traded/trafficked, facing violence at every turn. 

ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICES

Our precious lands have endured years of death, loss, and unnecessary transformation for the sake of the wall. Environmental issues have existed in the Valley since the arrival of the Spanish and are still heavily present in our daily lives. Our lands, our waters, our animals, and our people have all suffered the brunt of the exploitation of the land at the hands of outsiders and our complacent selves.

In the Valley, our beloved Tamaulipan Thornscrub has undergone hundreds of years of exploitation and extraction. Since the introduction of ranching to the present day, our brushy forests have been cleared, leaving only 1.5% of the scrub remaining. Our beloved Tamaulipan Thornscrub, once dense with Honey Mesquite, Texas Ebony, Cenizo, Palo Verde, and Huisache, is now mostly a fragmented remnant of what once was. Our sacred bodies of water like the Rio Grande River, its distributaries, our wetlands, and resacas are all facing the same fate of relentless exploitation and degradation. Ranching, agriculture, and the introduction of irrigation systems caused a lot of the Thornscrub to be cut down. Monocropping and the mass use of fertilizers contaminate our waters. Dams are imposed onto the Rio Grande River, further harming our intricate ecosystems of the Delta as areas are subject to droughts and flooding. Gradually, urbanization entered the Valley, severely exacerbating pollution. The erection of the border wall has also had deadly effects on our lands and waters, causing harsh fragmentation. It impedes the natural migration flows of our animals and people alike. Today, these colonial issues are still highly present in El Valle, with our lands being labored into producing mass amounts of crops. Less than 1% of this produce remains in the Valley to feed our local communities. The mass production of mono-crops creates a man-made food desert in a region where agriculture thrives. The Valley is brimming with environmental issues that impact the everyday lives of all who call these lands home.

Within low-income cities of the Valley, many of our communities face environmental injustices and environmental racism, as their lands and waters are commonly used as dumping grounds for toxic chemicals. The people of Mission and Donna have recorded deaths, severe health consequences, and mutations as a result of exposure to superfund sites. The Rio Grande Valley, and by relation its distributaries, have constantly been contaminated by both Mexico and the United States with fertilizers and waste from corporations and individuals. The contamination has resulted in the Rio Grande becoming undrinkable and toxic to ourselves and animals. Our waters have to go through intense filtration to be made accessible and drinkable to our communities. The animals and plants that depend on these waters are exposed to toxins causing a build-up in their bodies. It is also important to note that access to bodies of water in itself is often not possible as the government has heavily militarized our ancestral waters. 

There is a compounding factor to the pollution of our Rio Grande - that is, the absence of our precious water. The dwindling flow of the Rio Grande is largely brought upon by a consistent drought that has persisted for the past 3 years. A drought resulting from climate change. The decreased flow of the Rio Grande is further caused by the erection of dams, the irresponsible use of water, and poor water systems. The blame, though, is being put on Mexicans by large agricultural corporations and government officials, in an attempt to further divide our people rather than blaming the corporations and elite who are responsible for the effects of climate change.

The dark effects of colonization have polluted our lands, our waters, and our culture. El Valle, like many other places, is undergoing gentrification resulting in our cultural erasure. This trend is as much being caused by outside investors as it is a majority of the local residents. More people are driven by this want to “advance” or “urbanize” and reshape our lands and businesses to reflect the culture in bigger cities near El Valle - such as Austin, San Antonio, or Houston. This incessant capitalistic desire to move toward this form of luxury, comfort, and social status has wreaked havoc on our minds, hearts, lands, and people. The Valley has been rapidly transitioning into an urban area, with an increased presence of large corporations that have profits in mind and exploitation well practiced.

BORDER IDENTITY

Since our presence here, there has been a mixing of our people – a third identity. Before that, a mixing of land and water that created the Rio Grande Delta. Mixing of past soils collected from varying lands on all sides. Mixing of pressure, time, and force to create clay lands. Mixing of fast fresh river water and slow salt water from the Gulf of Mexico to create a delta. Mixing of two different climate zones to create natural migration routes. Mixing of death and life. Mixing of demise and survival. Mixed people living on mixed land. A third identity. A delta. 

We flow because the river flows through us. We are the soil after it deepens with water into a deep dark brown, the clay before it solidifies, and the rearranged body that emerges from the muck. We are the transition, pushed and pulled in separate directions, yet steadily flowing ahead. We crack the ground and let the water flow into itself, birthing into the Delta.