Rio Grande: From Environmental Haven to Militarized Border

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As a child, Michelle Serrano would take trips⁢ to boca⁣ Chica with her grandmother.
Today, decades⁤ later, it's hard for⁣ Serrano‍ to believe those memories.It's early⁣ December at Boca Chica Beach.

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As a child, Michelle Serrano would take trips⁢ to boca⁣ Chica with her grandmother. From her‍ home in Brownsville, the drive ran east⁢ through ⁢texas wetlands and countryside before landing on miles of beach, stretching far down the Gulf Coast just above the U.S.-Mexico border. They’d spend the day there, swimming, laying out‌ – which ‍didn’t cost anything, unlike at South Padre Island to ⁢the north. For them, ⁢it was ‍the peoples’ beach.

Today, decades⁤ later, it’s hard for⁣ Serrano‍ to believe those memories.It’s early⁣ December at Boca Chica Beach. A thick ⁣fog ⁢has settled over‌ the sand dunes as Serrano pulls up the hood of her jacket to⁣ block the coastal wind. Already, she had seen four U.S. Border Patrol ⁢trucks driving along the sand – trucks she knows will slow down as the drivers stare at her with suspicion.

Two rocket launch pads loom behind her, actively under construction for Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starbase. There,more Border Patrol units ⁤sit.

“I’ve ⁤never seen this‌ many Border Patrol ‍trucks before,” Serrano said. “I mean, who would go out here now? We’d just be watched, suspected. It’s sad. It’s sad as this isn’t our beach anymore.”

Over the last few years, Serrano ⁢and other residents living at the southernmost tip‍ of Texas have seen a dramatic shift in their⁤ environment. The Rio Grande Valley, which has for decades been home to border security, is now a land of increased militarization⁣ and border wall construction that has ramped up since President Donald Trump returned to office last January, including waiving a long list of national, state and local laws designed to protect the environment, wildlife ‌and public access. Alarmed, critics have expressed deep concern about the escalating impact this effort has on the local ecology ‍and waterways, and the growing limitations on those who once frequented public beaches, parks and the Rio Grande.

The Trump administration ⁣has been increasingly waiving legal requirements for the construction of the ‌border wall, which will stretch from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.

Most⁤ recently, the rate of waiver ‍implementation has increased in frequency and force, according to Dinah Bear, a lawyer specializing in environmental‍ policy.

In October,⁤ the Trump administration adopted contract ⁣and procurement waivers that ‍cover the full ⁢border, meaning the entire $46.5 billion border wall ⁢construction project no ⁤longer has to abide by laws meant to increase contract transparency, ‍foster competition and limit fraud or bribery.

Typically, the government would take bids ⁤from numerous contenders for a federal project, sort through them and choose an awardee. Then a‍ contract would be drawn‍ up‌ complete with rules, ‌regulations and limitations in mind.

“Waivers are usually set for a specific area,such as a section of the ‌Rio Grande Valley,but this ⁢time they did the entire border with the procurement waivers,” Bear said. “They [the government] can kind of do whatever they want within $46 billion.”

the Trump administration also recently signed a ⁤waiver for a little⁣ more than 100⁤ miles of border along the Rio Grande Valley, noting that it would bypass numerous environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species ‌act, the Clean ‌Water ‍Act, ⁣the Safe Drinking Water Act‍ and many others.

The environmental waivers are particularly concerning for ecologists and environmentalists.

“Animals are ⁢crossing for food, water and mates, crossing this arbitrary line,” said Kate Ostrom, a researcher in Latin American literature‌ and environmental humanities at the‍ University of Michigan. “We see the line, but you ⁢know wildlife is not thinking about that. They’re‌ moving through these⁢ connected (vertical) habitats.”

Ostrom‌ studies ‍the ecological losses in borderscapes such as the U.S.-Mexico border. In one case, along the Texas‍ border, the black⁤ bear’s southernmost habitat is in northern Mexico.‌ Though,the border wall and increased militarization prevents the bear from crossing into Mexico -‍ meaning that Mexico could eventually lose ⁢its entire black bear population,Ostrom said.

“At the same time we’re seeing this militarizing physical ⁢borders, we’re seeing an increase in drought or hurricanes or natural disasters making it‌ harder for not only humans ‌to flee, but wildlife as well,” ostrom said. “Some animals are shifting north and it’s harder to ‌cross.”

For example, according to ‌a⁢ report⁤ published by the U.S.⁣ Geological Survey ‌in 2024, the climate‍ niche for lizards⁤ and snakes is ‍shifting due ‌to climate change and warming temperatures.Eventually,the environments these animals need to⁣ survive will no longer exist and⁤ the‌ reptiles will need to move elsewhere,the report notes.

“It might not just be tough for them to cross, it may be unachievable,” Ostrom said.⁣ “So ‍in their‌ circumstance, they would⁤ just die anyway as they aren’t living in the area they’re supposed to live in.”

The border wall also⁢ prevents border animals from crossing ⁤during a natural disaster.

Residents in Brownsville and McAllen no longer interact with the river in any recreational way, said Ricky Garza, an‌ immigration and civil rights lawyer based in McAllen, a border town about 60 miles west of Brownsville.

Garza grew up in the Valley,and his ‍family has roots here as far back as the 1800s.

“There was a time when there were lots of restaurants and bars along the river,” Garza said. “Now, there is just one.It’s also the only place you can get a boat tour of the Rio Grande.”

It’s much‌ the same in other areas along the border, such as El Paso.Vianey Rueda,a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan focused on water ⁣rights and the Rio Grande Valley,said the interactions that locals have with the river have changed.

Rueda sees an⁣ incongruity between the environmental concerns over the Colorado ‌River ‍compared to the Rio Grande. While drought and the ⁢water crisis‍ in ⁢the Colorado River are constant topics of conversation, ‍with the Rio Grande, despite a ‌very similar water crisis, the focus is on the⁣ military at the ‍border and the wall‌ construction.

She grew up in a small community just outside El ‍Paso⁣ called San Elizario, ‌and never once has⁣ she been able ⁤to access the river‍ there because of the border wall. Citizens are allowed to go ⁢beyond the wall since it’s still U.S. territory, but people avoid doing that, said Rueda.

“When I visited Boca Chica, it was my first time actually ‌touching the river, and I realized not only are these barriers impacting ecology through dividing nature, but‍ it’s also altering the minds ⁢of people that live there,” Rueda said.

Rueda’s mother in San elizario remembers the river as ‍a place where she swam and had picnics; now her mother almost forgets there is a river at all.

“I’m having conversations with people, like my mom, and it’s like not just something they miss,‌ but it’s something they forgot that they missed,” she ⁣said. “now they⁢ all just think about it as a border and the immigration and the⁢ law, not a river.”

For⁤ Garza, no one wants to get close⁢ to the border, especially if they feel particularly targeted by Border Patrol or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In one case, Garza was walking along one of the border parks with his ⁤wife when Border Patrol agents came up to them to ask ⁤why they were so close ⁤to the⁢ border.

They said they were going on a walk ⁢in the park, and the agents responded “that they better be careful because they were searching for some bodies in the area.”

“and by ⁢bodies he meant immigrants who crossed over,” Garza said. “Why would anyone want to come to a ⁣place like that?”