Southwest Land Border

December 2021

Being a Jamaican immigrant that migrated to the U.S. to chase the American dream influenced my decision to visit the Southwest Land Border. I explored numerous migration funnel points along the border to gain perspective from Migrants, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Charity Organizations, State Law Enforcement Officers, and National Guards. The main visual documentation objective was to humanize the people and elements behind the record encounter numbers and explore nuances of over-politicized factors that go into managing the border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection sectors I visited accounted for 70 percent of migrant encounters during the fiscal year 2021. I came in contact with asylum-seekers, refugees, and individuals who traveled without interest in being identified or taken into custody crossing the United States Border.

Two U.S. Border Patrol agents wearing uniforms and face masks talking to asylum seeking woman and a child at the Mexico / U.S. border wall.
Asylum seeking migrant woman carrying a child walking along foggy railroad tracks at the southwest land border, with a police car trailing in the background.
Migrant girl at shelter with two hands pressed against a scratched glass window with a car visible in the background.

Reported encounters include previously deported migrants. This all-time high is closer to 1.3 million based on a recidivism rate of 27 percent reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Two individuals climbing Mexico / U.S. border wall in Sunland Park, NM using a rope ladder, set against a desert landscape in black and white.
Black and white photo of a migrant running away from Mexico / U.S. border fence in Sunland Park, NM with mountainous terrain in the background.
A black and white photo of a border patrol officer walking with a migrant in custody by the Mexico / U.S. Border wall in Sunland Park, NM.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported over 1.7 million migrant encounters at the Southwest Land Border during the fiscal year 2021, which ended September 30th. The fiscal year 2021 encounters is the highest number ever recorded and includes 1.1 million single adults, 479,728 individuals in a family unit, 146,925 unaccompanied children, and 2,108 accompanied minors.

Asylum seeking migrants near a river at night in Roma, Texas, with coyote helping them out of a raft from Mexico into USA.
Group of asylum seeking migrants seated on the ground at night, some wearing masks, with two border patrol officers standing nearby in Roma, Texas.
Silhouette of two Mexican coyotes paddling a canoe on a river in Roma, Texas at sunset with trees in the background.

The existence of Covid-19 raised concerns about a further spread into the United States as migrant detention levels continued to increase. On March 21st, 2020, the Trump administration invoked the U.S. health law, section 265 of Title 42, that suspends entries and imports from designated places to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. The Biden administration maintained this law by immediately expulsing single adults and family units back to their home county or last country of transit in the fiscal year 2021.

Asylum seeking migrants sitting on the ground after crossing the Mexico southwest land border into the U.S.
Migrant carrying a child while walking along a sidewalk next to a chain-link fence on a foggy day in La Joya, TX.
Black and white photo of a border patrol van with a barred window, a migrant wearing a face mask in the backseat, and a masked border patrol officer driver.

Migrants from Central America are the main component of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Southwest Land Border encounters. However, migrants from as far as Africa, Europe, and Asia are among those that are apprehended.

A migrant with short hair wearing a dark jacket, standing in a field of tall grass, viewed from behind, in black and white at the southwest land border.
Black and white photo of an asylum seeking migrant woman preparing a baby bottle next to a military hummer vehicle with food items spread out. A group of people stands in the background, some wrapped in thermal blankets, near tall grass.
Black and white photo of African asylum seeking migrant family sitting on grass next to a road with bags in Del Rio, Texas.

While driving on a suburban street in Del Rio, Texas, I came in contact with a group of West African and Central African migrants who were generous to share their stories with me. They left their home countries and flew to South America for various reasons. Fear of persecution, death threats, gang violence, kidnapping, and lack of economic opportunities all contributed to and justified undertaking the 4-month journey to the United States. Driven by fear, they were willing to risk their lives to make it to the United States with the hope of seeking employment opportunities, asylum, or refuge. They walked for months with South America as starting point knowing Central America would be far and still a long way to the border. The most dangerous part of their journey was the Darién Gap jungle in Columbia and Panama. Migrants risk being robbed, kidnapped, and raped by antigovernment guerrillas or poisoned by venomous snakes.

Asylum seeking migrants crossing Rio Grande river in Del Rio, Texas with trees in the background and a path on the riverbank.
Asylum seeking migrants wading through Rio Grande river in Del Rio, Texas with reeds on the sides, in a misty outdoor setting. A child is carried on an adult's shoulders in the foreground.
Military personnel assisting an asylum seeking woman and her baby over a barbed wire fence after she crossed the Rio Grande river in Del Rio, Texas.

Border cities in Northern Mexico see the arrival of migrants daily. They seek out Coyotes to smuggle them into the United States by either climbing over the border wall, walking, rafts, swimming, or by boat. Border Patrol Officers specified that migrant border crossings are often controlled by Mexican Cartels and cost up to $15,000 per transaction. Illegal migrant passage into the United States is a significant revenue source for the Cartels while serving as a diversion for smuggling drugs, guns, and other contraband across the border.

Black and white photo of a barren landscape with a large pile of metal poles, a muddy path, and Mexico / U.S. Border wall stretching into the distance under stormy clouds.
Monochrome landscape of a dry, cracked farmland with young plants growing in rows. Overcast sky and the Mexico / U.S. Border wall in the background.
Border patrol agent riding an ATV patrolling the Mexico / U.S. Border wall in Sasabe, Arizona.

The Southwest Land Border's funnel points overwhelm Patrol agents' capacity to detect and prevent illegal entry and smuggling into the United States. With the omnipresent threat of drug smuggling, human trafficking, and the detection of migrants, State allocations of Troopers and additional law enforcement agents provide official and unofficial authority in most border towns. The interdiction of these occurrences results in surveillance and other relevant tactics by Rangers, National and State Guards at and near the border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection data sourced from https://www.cbp.gov