Log in to hire Andre

Andre Malerba

Photographer

www.andremalerba.com

Asylum Seekers: Washington Post

Follow Hire

Clients: US Holocaust Memorial Museum, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Rest of World, The Washington Post

School: The International Center of Photography The University of Vermont

Omer Malik, 19, takes a last l...in Champlain, N.Y., July 2018.

1 of 11 © 2024 Andre Malerba

Omer Malik, 19, takes a last look back toward the United States before crossing illegally into Canada at the end of Roxham Road in Champlain, N.Y., July 2018.

A Mobile station in Upstate Ne...he Canadian boarder.

2 of 11 © 2024 Andre Malerba

A Mobile station in Upstate New York, July 2018. The station is used as a drop-off point for Greyhound Bus, a popular transportation method for asylum seekers heading to the Canadian boarder.

Items discarded by asylum seek...d driver’s licenses.

3 of 11 © 2024 Andre Malerba

Items discarded by asylum seekers that had crossed illegally into Canada, collected by Janet McFetridge, are seen on a table in her home in Upstate New York, July 2018. She has found small toys, an iPhone X, bus tickets, credit cards and driver’s licenses.

A family gets off a bus at a M...e Canadian boarder, July 2018.

4 of 11 © 2024 Andre Malerba

A family gets off a bus at a Mobile station in Upstate New York, as they prepare to head to the Canadian boarder, July 2018.

A taxi driver (who preferred n...sing on Roxham Road.

5 of 11 © 2024 Andre Malerba

A taxi driver (who preferred not to have her face or name shown) sits in her car for a photo at a Mobile station in Upstate New York, July 2018. She regularly carries people from this Mobile station to the border crossing on Roxham Road.

Janet McFetridge, 66, explains...s for children on the journey.

6 of 11 © 2024 Andre Malerba

Janet McFetridge, 66, explains to a family of Palestinian asylum seekers what will happen when they try to illegally cross the border into Canaday from Upstate New York, July 2018. McFetridge waits at this waypoint year-round, offering snacks, clothes and toys for children on the journey.

Asylum seekers enter a shelter...n total about 50 people a day.

7 of 11 © 2024 Andre Malerba

Asylum seekers enter a shelter on the Canadian side of Roxham Road, which starts near Champlain, New York, July 2018. The outpost was built to help process the recent surge of refugees and asylum seekers, which can total about 50 people a day.

Ready-made beds are seen in a ...ay before crossing the border.

8 of 11 © 2024 Andre Malerba

Ready-made beds are seen in a small basement classroom of the First Presbyterian Church in Plattsburgh, New York, July 2018. The room is kept ready and available to asylum seekers who might need a place to stay before crossing the border.

The beginning of Roxham Road, ... run nearly two centuries ago.

9 of 11 © 2024 Andre Malerba

The beginning of Roxham Road, in Champlain, New York July 2018. At this point it intersects with the famous North Star Road — said to have been a guiding light to slaves on the run nearly two centuries ago.

At the end of Roxham Road in C... but was denied asylum status.

10 of 11 © 2024 Andre Malerba

At the end of Roxham Road in Champlain, New York, Fiyori Mesfin, 32, crosses into Canada with her 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter, both U.S. citizens, July 2018. She had been living in Las Vegas for four years but was denied asylum status.

A view toward the terminus of ..., in Champlain New York, 2018.

11 of 11 © 2024 Andre Malerba

A view toward the terminus of Roxham Road — and Canada, in Champlain New York, 2018.

PLAY

STOP

GRID

FULL

LOVE

Private Project

Asylum Seekers: Washington Post

Copyright Andre Malerba 2024

Updated Oct 2018

Topics Activism, Arrests and Prosecutions, Community, Discrimination, Documentary, Editorial, Emotion, Freedom, Homelessness, Hope, Human Rights, Isolation, Loss, Migration, Minority, Photography, Photojournalism, Politics

Families, single mothers, teenagers traveling alone, and many others, are using a small, illegal border crossing at the end of Roxham Road in Plattsburgh, New York, to initiate the asylum process in Canada. Knowing that they would be denied asylum if they arrived in Canada directly, the method of crossing illegally and being arrested forces the process to begin due to a loophole in Canadian law. The ordeal is relatively easy and has become so popular that some are applying for visitor visas to the United States of America with the intention of crossing into Canada. Others have lived in the United States previously and have been denied asylum or fear deportation by ICE. The area has a long history with the Underground Railroad, and a small community of people assisting the asylum seekers see this situation as a modern day version of the network that existed in the first half of the 19th century.

Published Work

9,287

Also by Andre Malerba —

Demo Story

Sep 2, 2024

Demo Story

Sep 2, 2024

Demo Story

Sep 2, 2024

Thailand Wildfires

Aug 1, 2020

NGO

Sep 25, 2019

Shooting in Korat, Thailand: The New York Times

Feb 17, 2020

NGO

Sep 24, 2019

Travel

Sep 24, 2019

The Golden Land

Apr 9, 2017

Novartis Foundation: Lifestyle, UB

May 21, 2019

Myanmar Election: Al Jazeera

Apr 19, 2018

Thailand Glasses Factory: Stern

Oct 5, 2018

Sri Lanka Religious Violence

Apr 19, 2018

NRGI: Gold Mining

Apr 9, 2017

Sand Mining

Apr 17, 2018

Occupy Wall Street

May 4, 2017

Video Showreel

May 2, 2017

Sign-up for
For more access