The flow of illegals en route to the North American dream has not wavered. Despite the health restrictions linked to Covid-19, 400,000 migrants have tried to cross the border from the United States since the start of the pandemic. Most are Central American, including pregnant women and unaccompanied minors. Their journey, on foot or by hitchhiking, stretches over 4,000 kilometers: a course full of dangers.
Hispano-Belgian photographer Cristina de Middel turns this busy migratory route into an epic. “The media dramatize illegal immigration. For me, migrants are not fleeing victims, but rather daring heroes who face colossal trials to achieve their goal. ”
Clichés, montages, collages
Between documentary and fiction, his project Journey to the Center (“Journey to the Center”, which received the Virginia 2020 Prize) is inspired by Jules Verne’s famous novel, associating his quest for the center of the Earth with that of better days. Like Axel in the book, the 45-year-old photojournalist keeps a logbook, mixing photos, montages, collages and other archival documents, collected during the migrants’ journey through Mexico.
“This country is the most dangerous section of their journey. They must thwart military roadblocks, extortion of corrupt officials, kidnappings for ransom by organized crime, smugglers who lose them along the way… ” One of the main challenges: “The Bestia” (“The Beast”), nickname given to the freight train that travels up through Mexico. “They climb onto its roof. Some fall asleep, fall, have their leg or arm cut. ”
In order to limit the risks, they are thousands to gather in caravans to travel. More than a dozen of them have left Honduras since the end of 2018. They came up against, as on January 19, the soldiers deployed on the borders with Guatemala. Those who have made it through must then face the Mexican and, of course, the American borders.
Military device
Stopping the construction of the wall dear to Donald Trump was one of the first measures of Joe Biden, who also promised to develop an ambitious migration reform. But he did not comment on the military system imposed by his predecessor. “Migrants are criminalized”, condemns the hired photographer.
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