Breaking Down Borders

Published in HMag: September 2008 When Dundas photographer Terry Asma entered the United States to work in 2006, he did so easily, and without incident. He had the correct paperwork. A passport. A plan. The same cannot be said for the thousands of southern immigrants who make similar attempts each year.

Since 1993, more than 5,000 would-be immigrants have died trying to make their way into the United States from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. The various reasons for this are highlighted in The Migrants’ Journey, Asma’s current exhibit at Hamilton’s Workers Arts & Heritage Centre (WAHC).

“This is an important piece, not only as a documentary piece, but as a labour arts piece,” says Renee Wetselaar, executive director of the WAHC. When Asma and his longtime partner, writer Katrina Simmons, asked Wetselaar for feedback on a grant proposal in 2007, she immediately encouraged them to submit the finished project to the WAHC programming committee.

Asma’s exhibit showcases six weeks worth of photos, taken in 2006, at various points along traditional migratory paths in Mexico, Central America and the US. “It’s all about respecting human rights and treating people fairly,” Asma says of his project. “The migrant issue isn’t unique to the US but some of the politics in the US make for some unbelievable stories.”

Perhaps most central part to this story is the US-Mexico border wall; one of the main reasons the path from the south to the States has claimed so many lives. What started as 22km of fence along the San Diego border has grown to hundreds of kilometers of strong, steel barrier that run throughout California, Arizona and Texas. There are gaps in the border wall and there are simple sections of single-wall fence, but there are also segments that are triple-thick. The wall in San Luis, Arizona, a hotspot for migrants, consists of three layers of fencing. The long, dusty hallways that run between them are patrolled by trucks and helicopters. They are illuminated by stadium lighting. Activity is monitored by radar, radio and surveillance cameras. Where the American government has not yet erected barricades, radical citizens’ groups have.

The Minutemen Civil Defense Corps is one of these groups. An organization comprised of 12,000 volunteers, the Minutemen believe that those who oppose border fencing actively “risk the security of [the] nation...by allowing a border wide open for terrorists, rapists and drug dealers to cross.”

“To be fair to the group as a whole, they have legitimate concerns about people being illegal in their country,” Asma concedes. “But after talking to many of the migrants, I understand that most pay taxes, but can’t take advantage of the health care system, and most are doing work that Americans don’t want to do.” Chris Simcox, president of the organization, says that in addition to border patrol, the Minutemen assist “lost and abandoned individuals” in need of water and first-aid. They build high-tech security fences on private ranch land. They destroy makeshift migrant camps. In Asma’s photos, they scan the horizon through binoculars, holsters on hips. They are armed, not for show, but for confrontation. Though Simcox maintains they merely act as eyes and ears for legitimate border patrol, there have been reports of Minutemen shooting at migrants before they even set foot on US soil.

It is these obstacles that force migrant workers to create routes where there are none. They spend days crossing deserts. They wade across fast-moving rivers, their belongings held overhead. Those that can’t swim pay exorbitant fees to be ferried across the Suchiate River from Guatemala to Mexico. Many of Asma’s photos depict migrants knee-deep in water, steadying giant rubber rafts, climbing atop “decks” made of plywood skids. Once in Mexico, these travellers wait in rail yards, to climb aboard shunting fright trains bound for the US. The train ride lasts five days and the risks are many. Freezing temperatures as the trains summit mountain passes, and difficulty breathing in tunnels are some of the less serious issues. Train gangs, looking for vulnerable migrants, are a constant threat. Rape and robbery are common. Many migrants fall, or are pushed, from the trains, losing limbs in the process. If they make it to the US border, they can end up paying more than $2000 per person to be transported across the border by “coyotes” -Americans who have made a booming business out of smuggling people. After such a journey, even those who planned on returning home are hesitant to relive the experience. Because of this, the US is home to more than nine million undocumented workers from Mexico and Central America.

“[This] is an issue that is increasingly impacting Canada, which is now bringing in 170,000 migrant workers annually, many from Mexico,” says Carole Conde, programming chair of the WAHC. This is why the WAHC chose to exhibit Asma’s work now, to coincide with Southern Ontario’s intense fall harvesting period. According to Asma, the show also overlaps with the history of our own city, one that was built on the backs of immigrants from around the world, searching for a better life. “I don’t know anyone in my circles that hasn’t had a relative somewhere along the way migrate from someplace,” he says. “So we’re all immigrants, some of us just happen to have been here a little longer than others.”

The Migrants’ Journey runs until December.