Border Communities

Geography and Demographics

The border region comprises 14 sister cities in four U.S. states and six Mexican states. Two-thirds of the border region lies in Texas. The population for the border region is estimated to be approximately 13 million and is expected to double by 2025. In fact, two of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States are Laredo and McAllen, two cities located on the Texas-Mexico border. In general, educational attainment is lower in the U.S. border region when compared to the rest of the United States. With the exception of San Diego, 25-year-olds in the border counties average two to three fewer years of school than their counterparts in the United States as a whole. The border region contains three of the 10 poorest counties in the United States and 21 counties designated as economically distressed.

On the Mexican side of the border, due to rapid industrialization the communities have less access to water and sanitation services than the rest of the nation. On the U.S. side of the border region, colonias (rural unincorporated settlements) are reflective of Third World communities. Although the majority of residents are U.S. citizens, they lack basic educational and employment opportunities and have limited infrastructure, leading to diseases that are controlled in most parts of the world. When U.S. border communities are considered as one geographic area, they provide the least health care access, report the lowest per capita income, and have the highest number of uninsured children and children living in poverty than any U.S. state. Along with health needs and poverty, the border region also suffers from violence and pollution.

Colonias are settlements on unincorporated land. Land plots in the colonias are typically sold [Page 163]through a contract-for-deed system, which means that a developer sells the land for a low down payment, but the buyer has no title until the last payment is made. Approximately 1,800 colonias can be found in the U.S. border region. Colonias are characterized by isolation, and lack of sanitary water, paved roads, and other necessary public services. The average yearly income of $14,000 for families living in the colonias is well under the poverty line and unemployment ranges from 40 to 50 percent. Residents of these areas must travel long distances to reach churches and other education or health services. they may have to drive up to 30 miles in order to find drinkable water, plaguing the colonias with problems such as outbreaks of dysentery and hepatitis A.

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