The Mexico-United States border will always trace a story for those who attempt to cross it on foot. Reasons such as violence, insecurity, poverty, and family reunification drive people to make the arduous journey from their home country to the United States. These motives remain important drivers of migration from Latin America. Fierce debates in the United States about migrant flows not only emphasize a historically and politically complex account but also the ongoing humanitarian crisis along the dividing line.
The compositions contemplate the intricacy of the social crisis and identify the landscape. They depict the efforts by the U.S. Border Patrol Agents to secure the Rio Grande Valley using fences and border artifacts; in particular, old tires used for "dragging," which is a technique that involves footprint tracking to determine a timeline of crossings.
Huellas en La Frontera attempts to reference culture, history, and lived experience. To amplify these references, the compositions include self-portraits where I occupy the landscape in my U.S. Air Force uniform to evaluate my experience in the United States as someone who crossed the border in Brownsville, TX as a child, lived undocumented, and served in the military.
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