Az illegális mexikói bevándorlók többsége a folyót átúszva jut át az Egyesült Államokba, ezért gúnynevük a ''wetback'' (vizeshátú).
== Irodalom ==
*Paul Horgan, ''Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History''. Volume 1, Indians and Spain. Vol. 2, Mexico and the United States. 2 Vols. in 1, 1038 pages - Wesleyan University Press 1991, 4th Reprint, {{ISBN|0-8195-6251-3}}
*{{cite book |title=The King Ranch |first=Tom |last=Lea |publisher=Little Brown & Co |year=1957 |isbn=9780316517454}}
*{{cite book |title=River of Lost Dreams: Navigation on the Rio Grande |first=Pat |last=Kelley |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=1986 |isbn=9780803227125}}
*{{cite book |title=The News from Brownsville: Helen Chapman's Letters from the Texas Military Frontier, 1848-1852 |editor=Caleb Coker |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |year=1992 |isbn=0876111150}}
*{{cite book |title=Boom and Bust: The Historical Cycles of Matamoros and Brownsville |first=Milo |last=Kearney |coauthors=Anthony K. Knopp |year=1995 |publisher=Eakin Press |isbn=9780890158159}}
