Last summer was three months full of growth, insight, frustrations, and sweat in addition to a million other emotional and physical experiences. I sprained my ankle playing soccer, was shot at presumably by drug smugglers, saw an examination of a dead migrant, witnessed a cremation, drove dirt roads with Border Patrol agents and hiked 12 miles a day in 107 degree heat.
Immigration to the United States from Mexico and beyond has always been a dangerous and often perilous decision. After the creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, the United States made several attempts to stymie and fortify illegal movement in established crossings zones beginning with the introduction of Operation Gatekeeper in San Diego, and Operation Hold The Line in El Paso, Texas. One intended and reported result of the operation was to funnel illegal movement into geographically inhospitable areas of the Sonora desert in Arizona in an attempt to deter potential migrants from crossing the border. As a result of the longer and hotter path through the desert in Arizona, border deaths have increased dramatically. A study by the Binational Migration Institute shows that border deaths in Arizona went from 125 in the 1990s to 802 in the years from 2000-2005. According to the conservative death estimates of the Border Patrol statistics there were 171 deaths in Arizona in 2008 alone.
Additionally, the intense and harsh conditions of the desert can quickly make a body unidentifiable. This not only creates a problem for investigators and forensic examiners trying to identify a body, but it makes it harder to connect the remains of person with their families back home. An unidentified body is laid to rest in one of the many indigent graves around Arizona or cremated in a controversial cost saving method. Fortunately, recent advancements in DNA testing and forensics technologies have made it easier to find a match with a missing persons report. Forensics professor, Dr. Lori Baker of Baylor University, created Reunited Families in an attempt to connect families with their lost relatives. In collaboration with the Mexican Consulate’s missing person files, Dr. Baker has created a database to store DNA forensics profiles to correlate with missing persons reports. Yet, the idea of mDNA sampling has been a controversial one. Some argue that this type of sampling is not accurate enough to identify a body. The power of mDNA sampling lies in its ability to identify a person from a particular region, ie. southwest Mexico versus northeast Mexico.
Last January, I shot an assignment for Latina Magazine. It was a simple portrait, which left time for conversation. I mentioned how I have always wanted to do a border story and was waiting for the right angle. It was such a wide subject and the idea had to be narrow. I didn’t want to focus on the wall. The drug war is too dangerous for me, and border crossing photos have been shot and shot well.
After meeting Lori Baker, I immediately became interested in the idea of what happens to the bodies of migrants AFTER they die crossing the desert. It was a story that I had not seen before (although it has been done.) I spent a good majority of last spring conducting research, reading book and scientific journal entries and making connections for my summer in Arizona.
I spent time with BORSTAR (the search and rescue team of the Border Patrol), The Pima County Medical Examiners Office, The Pima County Sheriff Department, Adair Funeral Home, No More Deaths humanitarian aid group, and countless other hours on solo missions. I am about half way done with the project, but I am quite pleased with the work I have done so far. I am looking forward to returning to Arizona in the next month or so to continue shooting.
While much of the work is still unpublished I am pleased to see that NPR and All Things Considered aired a story on the border and used my photos. You can see the photos and the link to the radio segment on the NPR website. I am also posting the photos they used in their slide show.
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