"Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, and Your Hungry". What does this mean today, in Trump's new paradigm of racism, when the U.S. is on a witch hunt for immmigrants?
Immigration has divided our nation. It has brought out the worst in us. In order to understand the depth of the inhumanity we must move beyond the numbers, and statistics. The human story here is one we can't turn away from, not when so many lives are being ruined.Living in America elevates people's hope. But there is an illusion of having freedom in the U.S., today.
We are now in an era of zero tolerance. ICE is rounding up those who are the most vulnerable. We were all forewarned. Many who snuck in here, made mistakes. In their defense fleeing oppressive regimes, in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and areas of Mexico, forces people to become desperate. And for those who simply wanted to provide a better life for their family, they were sadly fooling themselves that this day would never come. Now many are facing the painful drive back across the border, with no idea when they will ever see their wives, husbands or children again.
Something very wrong is happening in the U.S. today. I began to document the experience at the back fence on the border, to get a true sense of what the arrid and foreboding environment feels like. And I was compelled to capture the human face of this hate.
At Donald Trump's innauguration people were in tears and anticipating what was to come. I have been speaking to many whose lives are at risk. At rallies across the U.S. people are courageously showing up, and finding solidarity with one another. It's not safe out there. There are knocks on the front door, people are being pulled over because they fit a profile, plain-clothes officers, from ICE, are snooping around workplaces. It's stressful to drive, and you worry if you will be pulled over for something you didn't do. Even though the law says that you are not required to show your papers, you're worried the police will ask.
The mood is unsettling. People are whispering about where to hide. We are at the beginning of this. It will never be ok to let our guard down, and moreover not to put ourselves in the way of an injustice. We must protect those who are at risk. We are witnessing a rounding up, in huge numbers, of hard working, decent human beings. This series chronicles the experience at the border, the rallies to mobilize and demand justice for undocumneted workers. A close up examination of the indiviidual lives who are affected by Donald Trump's alt right machine, with their hopes of rounding up 80,000 immigrants a day.
Enrique Marones, the director of the Angel Border project says : Human rights has no borders. Its time the US practices what itpreaches. Mr. Gorbachov tore down his wall. Ten years later the US builds our wall - Operation Gatekeeper. It has led to the death of more than 10,000 human beings. Ni una muerte mas, reforma ya!
