School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Report
Publication Date
2008
Abstract
Introduction: The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to install a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border by late December 2008. While much attention has been drawn to the environmental, social and political issues surrounding the fence, analysis of demographic data on the populations that will be directly affected has been limited. This paper utilizes geographic information systems (GIS) and U.S. Census Bureau data with the objective of understanding the underlying demographics in areas along the proposed Rio Grande Valley section of the border fence located in Cameron County, Texas.
Data and Methods: Demographic measures of income, education, ethnicity, citizenship status and language for Cameron County census block groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau and associated with corresponding census blocks in the path of the proposed fence. GIS was utilized for mapping the sections of the proposed fence based on imagery from DHS Environmental Impact Statements. The proposed fence is not a continuous barrier: lengths of open space (gaps) exist along each section of fence. For the purposes of analysis, each individual census block was classified into one of two categories: either ‘fence’ or ‘gap’. Census blocks designated as ‘fence’ are those that are fully bisected by the proposed fence, adjacent to the fence, with some portion of the fence entering the boundary of the block, or on the Mexican side of the proposed fence. Blocks designated ‘gap’ are approximated based on spaces between segments of the proposed fence. Two-tailed independent samples t-tests were performed on multiple demographic factors to test for statistically significant disparities in demographics between the blocks designated ‘gap’ and ‘fence’.
Results: A total of 17 demographic factors in 242 census block areas designated either ‘fence’ or ‘gap’ were tested for disparities. Fourteen of seventeen factors were found to have statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences in means between gap and fence designations. All income factors were higher in gaps as compared to fence-designated block estimates. Household income in gap-designated areas was $3,141 higher than fence-designated areas in 2000 and $3,833 higher in 2007. For race and ethnicity factors, gap-designated areas were on average significantly less Hispanic (90.72% vs. 94.13%, p < 0.01), less Hispanic Indian (0.34% vs. 0.49%, p < 0.01), and less Spanish Speaking (87.92% vs. 91.40%, p < 0.01). Census blocks designated ‘gaps’ contained a lower percentage of foreignborn naturalized citizens (8.99% vs. 11.17%, p < 0.01) and foreign-born non-U.S. citizens (18.29% vs. 20.73%, p < 0.01). Households in gap areas were also smaller (3.86 persons vs. 3.96 persons, p = 0.144) and older (28.7 yrs. vs. 26.7 yrs, p = 0.000).
Discussion: These results indicate that there are marked and statistically significant disparities in the demographics between groups directly affected and not affected by the proposed U.S.-Mexico border fence in Cameron County, Texas. The authors urge caution in the wider interpretation of these results until a larger sample size can be extracted from a wider study area along the U.S.-Mexico border. However, based on these preliminary results, special consideration to demographic disparities is warranted and should be integrated into the DHS planning and decision-making process with reference to the U.S.-Mexico Border fence.
Recommended Citation
Wilson, J. Gaines, Jude Benavides, Anthony Reisinger, Joseph Lemen, Zachary Hurwitz, Jessica Spangler, and Karen Engle. "An analysis of demographic disparities associated with the proposed US-Mexico border fence in Cameron County, Texas." University of Texas School of Law Working Group on Human Rights and the Border Wall (2008).
Comments
http://www.utb.edu/vpaa/csmt/chemenv/Documents/WILSON_ETAL_2008_REPORT_OAS_WALL_DISPARITIES.pdf