It's easy to see how scaling the border fence into the US is a gamble well worth the risk -- that the promise of the unknown outweighs the inescapable certitude of what waits for them in Mexico (or insert any state, region, etc). But from the moment their feet land on American soil, they enter a world of enforced anonymity, no closer to the America of their imaginings than when they began the long journey north. Where is Liberty or Justice to be found for even the strongest of men when he has no voice?
Cuando Estoy Aqui combines life in the small northern Mexican village of Ejido Hermosillo with that of the immigrant community of Irving, TX. The later body of work was shot for the New York Times in 2009.
The City of Irving’s police force held a policy of delivering any undocumented residents that came through their system to federal immigration authorities. This prompted fear in the community whom felt they had to live in hiding to escape deportation.
