- texastribune.org/texas-mexico-border-news/texas-mexico-border/red-tape-catch-22s-impede-progress-texas-colonias/
- texastribune.org/texas-mexico-border-news/texas-mexico-border/video-health-and-conditions-in-texas-colonias/
- texastribune.org/texas-mexico-border-news/texas-mexico-border/conditions-health-risks-sicken-colonias-residents/
Provide names of other journalists involved.
Videography, photography by Callie Richmond
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
7/8/11-7/10/11
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The Texas Tribune spent two weeks on the Texas-Mexico border to report on the health conditions plaguing residents of the colonias, and the bureaucracy and red tape standing in the way of real improvement. The Tribune found that, despite decades of new laws and regulations aimed at improving the colonias, nearly 45,000 people still live in neighborhoods with dire health risks, without running water, wastewater treatment, paved roads or solid waste disposal. Water- and mosquito-borne illnesses are rampant, the result of poor drainage, pooling sewage and water contaminated by leaking septic tanks. Burning garbage, cockroaches, vermin and mold lead to high rates of asthma, rashes and lice infestations. Kids — and their parents — are often sick, and have few resources to get the care they need.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
The documents used include decades worth of proposed state legislation and epidemiology records from South Texas, as well as reports from the divisions of nearly a dozen state agencies on their overlapping, and sometimes contradictory, roles in the colonias.
Explain types of human sources used.
Human sources included the chiefs of every state agency with some role in the colonias, advocacy groups, scientists, researchers, and dozens of residents of the colonias, from new arrivals to people who’d lived there for many years.
Results:
The series has prompted extensive talk of more forceful legislation in the upcoming session, sparked dialogue among researchers and epidemiologists, and prompted the president of the University of Texas Pan American to offer full scholarships to the children of one of the families featured in the series.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
None.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Don’t rely on the researchers, bureaucrats and lawmakers who tell you that conditions have improved, that legislation has been effective. Go and see for yourself. In my case, I was spun tales of marked life changes; the reality was something so awful I never could’ve imagined it.