Bordering on Prosperity: Past and Future Converge on Rio Grande
Published February 11, 2015 5:45 PM
|
Updated February 11, 2015 5:45 PM
1 Min Read
Long considered one of the most economically disadvantaged regions in the nation, the Texas-Mexico border zone stretches 1,254 miles from El Paso to Brownsville on the Gulf Coast. Nearly 10% of the Texas population lives in the border communities of Brownsville, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, El Paso, Laredo and McAllen. The region witnessed tremendous growth in the 1990s, aided by North American Free Trade Agreement. In past five years, the border has enjoyed rising employment in the unconventional oil and gas production business. Today, all of the most urgent issues facing Texas energy, trade, transportation, healthcare, immigration, education and water can be found on the banks of the Rio Grande.
Local and state officials gather to unveil the sign for the future Interstate 69 corridor in Laredo Feb. 27, 2014. Jeff Austin III, a member of the Texas Transportation Commission, noted that development of the new interstate highway will boost commerce and connectivity between rural and urban Texas. This link is especially significant to Laredo as it will allow the city to continue growing as a hub for business, commerce and economic prosperity, Austin said. Image: I69 Texas Alliance.
U.S. Ambassador Anthony Wayne, right, and U.S. Consul General Tom Mittnacht visited the new West Rail Bypass Bridge in Matamoros, Mexico, Sept. 12, 2014. The bridge is the first new rail crossing built between the U.S. and Mexico in over a hundred years. It will move rail traffic currently flowing through the downtown areas of Matamoros and Brownsville, Texas, to the outskirts of the metropolitan area. The bypass is designed to allow urban renewal in the areas currently taken up by rail yards and tracks. Image: U.S. State Dept.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk, left, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry break ground on the private spaceflight companys new launch site in Brownsville Sept. 22. Perry offered a $2.3 million incentive package from the Texas Enterprise Fund and $13 million from the Spaceport Trust Fund. The company site is expected to represent a total investment of $85 million. Isnt it amazing what we can do when we all work together? Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos said at the announcement. Cascos has since been designated Secretary of State under Gov. Greg Abbott. Image: State of Texas.
Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos campaigns for Greg Abbott in the 2014 campaign for governor. Cascos, one of the rare Republicans from the Lower Rio Grande Valley, is Abbotts nominee as secretary of state. In that position, Cascos will be in charge of statewide elections, trans-border issues and business promotion in the state. Cascos, a certified public accountant, was born in Matamoros, Mexico, on the other side of the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas, and moved to the U.S. as a child.
A gas flare is reflected on a rutted road in the Eagle Ford Shale of Dewitt County. Under Proposition 1 approved by Texas voters Nov. 4, about $1.7 billion per year is expected to go toward road repairs in the oil and gas producing regions of Texas. With oil prices falling, activity in the Eagle Ford is already declining, but heavy truck traffic is expected to continue as the primary method of shipping the oil and gas. Image: Eileen Pace.
Completed in 2002, the Laredo Energy Center hosts everything from minor-league hockey to rock concerts. The demand for entertainment venues on the border, far from the states largest cities, is growing among the regions younger generation, officials say. Noe Hinojosa Jr., who built his financial advisory firm Estrada Hinojosa & Co., with clients on the border, said quality-of-life concerns represent a growing line of business in the region. Hinojosa, whose firm ranked second in the state in 2014 behind First Southwest Co., was financial advisor on the Laredo Energy Center deal. Image: LEA.
The Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge opened in 2010, making it one of the newest on the Rio Grande. Built at a cost of $30 million on the U.S. side, the toll bridge has eight lanes and is owned by the city of Donna. Mexico is constructing an $800 million Rio Bravo-Monterrey Loop around the southern area of Reynosa to provide direct access from Monterrey to the Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge, and to the Hidalgo County Loop project. Image: TxDOT.
Then-Gov. Rick Perry mans a machine gun in a helicopter patrolling the Texas border in July 2014 after he sent 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the region in a mission he called Operation Strong Safety. The troop surge and an increase in Texas Department of Public Safety troopers came in response to hundreds of unaccompanied children from Central America seeking refuge in the United States. Texas Democrats disparaged Perrys actions as a photo opportunity in preparation for a 2016 presidential campaign. Perrys successor Gov. Greg Abbott has said he plans to maintain the enforcement measures. Image: TNG.
A volunteer militia calling itself Operation Secure Our Borders sent troops to South Texas to provide unsolicited backup for the Texas National Guard and U.S. Border Patrol. A militia leader said his troops had no plans to harm illegal border crossers but would detain them for the Border Patrol. Image: KUT.
Thousands of children from Central America found themselves in limbo in U.S. border areas after a long and dangerous journey to reach the United States in the summer of 2014. To deal with the influx, Gov. Rick Perry sent military troops and state police to the region as charitable organizations tried to assist the federal government with feeding and housing the children. Image: U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement.
This makeshift home is part of a colonia Spanish for neighborhood -- in Starr County in South Texas. Texas has about 500,000 residents in 2,300 colonias -- more than any other state. Often lacking basic services such as running water, sewage or electricity, the colonias have received more than $932 million in grants and loans over the past 25 years from the Texas Water Development Boards Economically Distressed Areas Program. Image: El Colegio de la Frontera Norte.
In 2015, the University of Texas at Brownsville will merge with UT-Pan American in Edinburg to become the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. The university will also add a medical school, providing a source of doctors and nurses to the underserved region. The combined universities will have access to the states Permanent University Fund for operating revenues and the ability to issue triple-A bonds. Image: UT System.
Rendering shows new medical school for the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley that is expected to open next year in Edinburg. According to Americas Health Rankings, Texas is last among the 50 states in health insurance coverage. In the 12 counties that make up the Rio Grande Valley, there are only 124 doctors for every 100,000 residents, compared to a national average of 240 per 100,000, according to legislative research. Image: UT System.
Remnants of a car bomb fill the streets outside City Hall in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico in 2012. The attack was part of drug war between heavily armed rival gangs on Mexicos northern state of Tamaulipas. Paradoxically, the border cities on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande boast some of the lowest crime rates in Texas. Image: Wikipedia.
