Río Rico, Tamaulipas: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Mexican village in Tamaulipas state}}

Rio Rico was a city in Texas near the [[Rio Grande River]]. In 1906, an irrigation company performed an unauthorized diversion of the Rio Grande, which moved Rio Rico south of the river. Mexican authorities eventually assumed control of the area. However, since the course change was due to man made changes and not natural changes, International Law dictated that the land remained U.S. territory. The U.S. eventually ceded the territory to Mexico with [[Boundary Treaty of 1970]]. The handover took place in 1972. Anyone born in the city before the 1972 handover was able to retain U.S. citizenship.

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'''Río Rico''' is a village located along the [[Rio Grande]] in the [[Mexico|Mexican]] state of [[Tamaulipas]]. It includes a portion of the '''Horcón Tract''', a narrow {{Convert|461|acre|km2|abbr=|adj=on}} piece of land (including former riverbed) that was part of the [[United States]] until 1977.

[[Category:Texas history]]

The Horcón Tract was originally north of the meandering river—and thus part of the [[United States|U.S.]] state of [[Texas]]—until an unauthorized diversion of the river to its north cut it off from the rest of the state in 1906. Río Rico was founded years later, in 1929, and developed as a ''de facto'' Mexican settlement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mexicanroutes.com/how-the-american-town-of-rio-rico-became-mexican/|title=How the American town of Rio Rico became Mexican|website=mexicanroutes.com|access-date=2024-10-13}}</ref>

In 1967, an American geography professor discovered what had happened and it was determined that parts of Río Rico were legally on U.S. territory, making those who were born there [[Birthright citizenship in the United States|American citizens by birthright]]. The [[Mexico–United States border|international border]] was moved under the terms of the [[Boundary Treaty of 1970]], placing the tract and the village in Mexico, effective in 1977.

==History==

In 1845, the Rio Grande was established as the border between Mexico and the U.S. state of Texas. The river has many [[Meander|meanders]], which result in "fingers" of land that are nearly surrounded by territory of the other country, such as the Horcón Tract, a {{convert|413|acre|km2|adj=on}} finger that was surrounded by the river (and Mexico) except for a narrow connection at its northeast end. (The zig-zag of the river formed a reciprocal tract in Mexico, connected at its southwest end.)

In July 1906, the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company, as a measure to regulate the river's water flow for irrigation purposes, dug a [[Meander cutoff|cutoff to shorten the course of the river]], thus bypassing the tract.<ref name="tshaonline" /> The diversion was unauthorized, and the company was taken to court by the U.S. and Mexican landowners. In December, 1907, the company was fined $10,000, ordered to convey its ownership of land in the Horcón Tract to the landowners, and ordered to pay damages and costs of $7,200<ref>{{cite web|title=Proceedings relating to the diversion of Rio Grande by American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation|publisher= U.S. Department of State|url=https://archive.org/download/proceedingsrelat01inte/proceedingsrelat01inte.pdf|pages=35, 55–57}}</ref><ref name="Cook p. 300">{{harvnb|Cook|1998|p=300}}</ref> The diversion of the river, being practically impossible to reverse, was allowed to stand. The land was agreed to remain American territory, in accordance with an [[International Boundary and Water Commission#The border and water treaties|1884 border treaty]], under the principle of [[international law]] that only natural changes in the course of a river affect borders.<ref name="tshaonline" /><ref name="Cantu">''[https://www.justice.gov/eoir/vll/intdec/vol17/2748.pdf Matter of Cantu]'' 17 Immigration & Naturalization Dec. 190, 190-91 ([[Board of Immigration Appeals|BIA]], 1978)</ref>

However, the former riverbed dried up rather than forming an [[oxbow lake]], and the company never put up border markers,<ref name="Cook p. 300" /> leaving the tract barely distinguishable from the adjacent Mexican territory. Due to the [[Prohibition in the United States|prohibition of alcohol]] in the U.S., something of a resort destination grew up there during the 1920s and 1930s, with free-flowing liquor and gambling.<ref name="mysanantonio.com">{{cite web|last=Castillo, Mariano|date=June 20, 2004|title=Border town's story has more twists than Rio Grande|url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA062004.1A.RioRico.1aa310cb.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207080816/http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA062004.1A.RioRico.1aa310cb.html|archive-date=February 7, 2008|access-date=December 31, 2009|publisher=Rio Grande Valley Bureau}}</ref> In 1929, the Mexican village of Río Rico was founded near the tract, and as the Rio Grande changed its course after floods, the settlement progressively moved into it.<ref name="Cantu" /> The residents, being mostly of Mexican heritage, accepted the authority of the Mexican government, and all parties generally acted as if the tract were Mexican territory.<ref name="tshaonline">{{cite web |date= 2009 |url = http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hrr53|title = Rio Rico, Texas|publisher = [[Handbook of Texas]]| access-date = December 31, 2009 | last= McDonald, Laurier B. }}</ref>

The discrepancy was brought to light decades later. The [[Boundary Treaty of 1970]] provided for the Horcón Tract to become part of Mexico upon the completion of two new flood control projects. In 1972 the United States officially ceded the tract of land to Mexico, and it was formally annexed by the [[Mexican state|state]] of [[Tamaulipas]].<ref name="tshaonline" /> The formal handover took place in 1977. After one former resident filed a lawsuit to prevent the [[Immigration and Naturalization Service|United States Immigration and Naturalization Service]] from deporting him, the [[Board of Immigration Appeals]] ruled that all people born in Río Rico between 1906 and 1972 could claim U.S. [[Birthright citizenship in the United States|citizenship by birthright]].<ref name="Scott pp. 13–21">{{harvnb|Miller|1985|pp=13–21}}</ref><ref>[https://www.justice.gov/eoir/vll/intdec/vol17/2748.pdf ''Matter of Cantu''], 17 Immigration & Naturalization Dec. 190, 194 (BIA 1978)("''Either the Government has established, ... that the respondent is an alien, or it has not; if it has not, it is not incumbent upon this Board to go the additional step of determining whether he is also a citizen. That determination can be left to some future date and some other process.''")</ref> As a result, a large portion of the village's population moved to the United States proper.<ref name="nytimes.September.26.1987">{{cite web |date= September 26, 1987|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/26/world/south-of-border-was-once-north.html|title = South of Border Was Once North|work = [[New York Times]]| access-date = December 31, 2009 | last=Rohter, Larry }}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Historic regions of the United States]]

* [[Rio Grande border disputes]]

* [[Chamizal dispute]]

* [[Border irregularities of the United States]]

* [[Northwest Angle]]

* [[Point Roberts, Washington]]

* [[Missouri Bootheel]]

==References==

===Notes===

{{Reflist|2}}

===Bibliography===

{{Refbegin|2}}

*{{cite book |last=Miller|first=Tom| title = On the border: portraits of America's southwestern frontier|edition=1985|year=1985| publisher = [[University of Arizona Press]]| isbn= 0-8165-0943-3 }} <small>- Total pages: 226 </small>

*{{cite book |last=Cook|first=Scott | title = Mexican brick culture in the building of Texas, 1800s-1980s|edition=1998|year=1998| publisher = [[Texas A&M University Press]]| isbn= 0-89096-792-X }} <small>- Total pages: 338 </small>

{{Refend}}

==External links==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050621211418/http://www.ibwc.state.gov/Files/Minutes/Min257.pdf Final Handover Documentation]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060106214838/http://www.ibwc.state.gov/wad/body_rioproj.htm State Department Site Explaining 1970 Boundary Treaty]

* {{Gnis|1345246|Rio Rico, Texas}}

* {{YouTube|id=kK_T0_ZyO8E |title=The border town that 'forgot' it was part of the US }}; BBC News

* {{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=The American Town Ceded to Mexico in 1970|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okljAsg5Dy4|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Curiosity Stream}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rio Rico, Tamaulipas}}

[[Category:Tracts]]

[[Category:Former regions and territories of the United States]]

[[Category:Populated places in Tamaulipas]]

[[Category:International territorial disputes of the United States]]

[[Category:Texas border disputes]]

[[Category:Mexico–United States border]]

[[Category:Populated places established in 1970]]

[[Category:1970 establishments in Mexico]]

[[Category:Matamoros, Tamaulipas]]