The Rio Grande River forms the entire border between Texas and Mexico.

On our way upstream on our recent Rio Grande river cruise, we passed very near to the Mexican shoreline.

To be honest, because there’s so much poverty in this part of Mexico, I sure didn’t expect to see these elaborate haciendas.

This one looks small from the front, but extends a long way back
Many have these large stone outdoor ovens
The dark part on the right is some kind of creeping vine that completely covers that part of the house

We learned that the drug cartel and the human smuggling operations use the Rio Grande 24/7 to move their cargo from Mexico to the USA. The people who smuggle illegal immigrants across the border are called coyotes and the drug smugglers are called mules.

We also learned that 85% of the people who are moved illegally into the USA are from countries other than Mexico.

Despite the border patrol and game warden boats (the game wardens are also acting as border patrol) constantly cruising up and down the river, the illegal activities continue day and night.

I’ll likely do one or two more posts about our Rio Grande tour. I’m happy I did a few videos because I picked up much of what our captain/tour guide was telling us, so I don’t have to rely totally on memory. There was just way too much information to remember it all.

“While a strong presence on our southern border is imperative, the border cannot be secured unless we enforce our internal laws and stop ignoring the open complicity of U.S. companies and foreign nations to promote illegal activities.”

Elton Gallegly