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Travel

This Anthropologist Identifies the Bodies of Dead Border-Crossers

The trio heads to Texas and meets an anthropologist who works to identify the corpses of those who died trying to cross the US border.

In our VICELAND travel series VICE Does America, VICE staffers Abdullah Saeed, Wilbert L. Cooper, and Martina De Alba have been making their way around the country in a 1989 Winnebago, meeting porn stars, potheads, militiamen, and presidential candidates to find out how people feel about the country as November's contentious election approaches.

On this episode, Abdullah, Wilbert, and Martina head through Texas to find out the realities Mexican immigrants face when trying to cross the US border, as well as when they settle in the country. First, they meet a Baylor anthropologist who works to identify the corpses of those who died trying to cross the border. Then, the trio gets properly fitted for an authentic "charreada," or Mexican rodeo, and meets Mexican Americans trying to preserve a bicultural identity.