concealing several months of Mexican birth control pills for herself
and her cousin into a pocket in the lining of her purse and into the
waistband of her jeans before crossing by foot to the U.S. Petra's
method is generally the same each time she does this: she takes the
pills out of their boxes and hides the thin foil packets before
walking across the congested roads that lie between the Mexican
pharmacy and the international bridge. She explains that this is
easy, but that she always makes sure that the hiding is done before
she enters the immediate bridge area where U.S. officials might see
her stash pills away. Petra has been crossing to Mexico for medications
with members of her family for as long as she can
remember and says in a blas_e tone, “Just shove [the prescriptions]
somewhere [CBP agents] won't look, act normal, and walk across
like you always do.” She adds, “It's probably good to have, like, some
chips or something else that you bought so when they ask if you
bought anything you have something to show. But really, it's pretty
easy to get away with it … People I know do it a lot.” Petra illustrates
her ability to use navigational capital to bring back prescription
drugs to the U.S. without going through the trouble of
explicitly declaring them to Customs. She learned ways of hiding
Mexican prescription drugs and how to “act cool” from kinship ties
as well, illustrating cultural intuition that composes her familial
capital.
Petra is also one of the only people in her family with a passport
card that she bought to “get less hassle from border patrol” when
she crosses from Mexico. On the whole, those with passports have
an easier time crossing the border than people with only birth
certificates. Jeanette, who uses a U.S. birth certificate when border
crossing says, “Sometimes they give you trouble, but they'll just
hold you for an hour or two. They gotta let you in eventually!”
Petra's passport card provides her with an additional source of
navigational capital, as well as social capital to her family, by
allowing smoother and less time-consuming border crossing and
prescription drug importation.
Even though Petra is relatively at ease with using navigational
and familial CHC to facilitate cross-border prescription drug access,
this still seems more difficult than staying in the U.S. to buy birth
control. I wonder in what ways Petra and her cousin are excluded
from U.S. healthcare, especially given the numerous community
clinics within a few miles of her home. When I ask why she prefers
to cross birth control pills from Mexico versus going to U.S. clinics,
Petra responds,
“What's easier: going to those places and … paying $7 per
[monthly] pack and having to go back when the prescription is
up? Or walking to Mexico, paying $2 per [monthly] pack for as
many packs as youwant whenever youwant? And I can get it for
me and [my cousin].”
Petra learned to do this kind of international cost comparison
from friends and family who do the same for their own medication,