affording drugs for depression and diabetes in the U.S. She explains
her process of determining whether she will manage this problem
by going to Mexico, “the pills I buy in Matamoros because they are a
lot cheaper over there. Here [in Texas], the pills cost me $13 for a
month supply. Over there they cost me $4.99 for 3 months…in the
newspaper El Heraldo are the prices for medicines at Garcia's
[Farmacia in Mexico] and so I check there for the name of my
medicines and I go and buy them.” Garcia's is a large department
store in Matamoros, Mexico just one block from the border bridge
connecting to downtown Brownsville, TX. The second floor houses
a smoky restaurant decorated in mid-century modern touches, a
tourist shop full of pottery and rugs, and a pharmacy where dozens
of participants in this research often purchase their prescription
drugs.
Mari uses linguistic capital to identify cost savings in Mexico
using Spanish language newspapers. She then again uses linguistic
capital to ask Mexican pharmacists at Garcia's whether her prescriptions
can be imported to the U.S. legally in order to avoid
confrontation with Customs and Border Patrol officers, “I ask at the
pharmacy if I can cross [the medicine] before I go so I won't have a
problem at the bridge.” Participants largely cross the South Texas
border by foot or by a personal vehicle. Before reentering the U.S.
they must wait in a line of cars/people (ranging from a fewdozen to
a couple hundred depending on time of day) in order to be screened
by a U.S. Customs and Border patrol officer. The officer asks for
identification and scans the passport/identification documents
while questioning the border crosser. Questions typically include
inquiries about why the individual is crossing the border on that
day and what they are bringing with them. Officers may further ask
to look inside bags and pockets, or ask more in-depth questions.
Mari's use of Mexican newspapers and her conversations with
Mexican pharmacists are examples of navigational capital used for
the purpose of avoiding problems during questioning by U.S. border
officials: by seeking information about prices and importation to
the U.S., she is better able to navigate transnational prescription
access. She does not have a computer, and detailed policies
regarding prescription importation are not posted at the border
bridges. Mari thus uses overlapping forms of linguistic and navigational
CHC to seek this detailed information from Mexican
pharmacists.
Similar to Jeanette, whom I quote at the start of the paper, other
participants have a more relaxed view of prescription drug
importation than Mari. Instead of using CHC to follow the rules
better, these participants use CHC to undermine border security
regulations by simply hiding (and not declaring) the Mexican prescription
drugs they are transporting across the border. Jeanette,
and many other young U.S.-born Mexican American participants,
use navigational capital in this endeavor; specifically, knowledge of
how to avoid surveillance by Customs and Border Patrol officers.
Petra, a 26-year-old U.S.-born citizen and homemaker describes