Crossing the Border to Sell Blood

But as a plasma donor she gets $70 weekly. For a year, García went twice each week to the BioLife Plasma Services laboratories, located some two miles from the international Eagle Pass Bridge, and sold 1.76 liters of her blood. With that money, García paid the mortgage on her house, as well as electricity and phone bills.

BioLife, together with Talecris Plasma Resources and Biomat USA, which is owned by Spanish company Grifols, have established themselves in the main Texas border cities. They capture the blood of low-income Mexicans with visas who can cross legally into the United States.

"At times, I did not have enough money to buy shoes for my son," García said. "So I went to BioLife, and with that money I bought them."

Border Crossing

Attracted by payments that at times surpassed their salaries, hundreds of border residents like García use their tourist visas to go to blood collection centers in cities such as McAllen, Brownsville, Laredo, Eagle Pass and El Paso.

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