BORDERS
Migrant Children

Threatened

"Border Crisis" consists of a series of paintings created in response to the Zero Tolerance Policy of the Trump administration. In violation of Flores Agreement, asylum was illegally denied the immigrants desperately fleeing dire situations that include gang violence, starvation, and poverty. Young children were separated from their parents at the Mexican border then imprisoned in CBP holding facilities. They slept on concrete floors fenced with barbed wire. Inadequate adult supervision was worsened by COVID-19 where ICE officers didn't enter these cells for fear of contagion. The US imports avocados, pineapples, bananas and mangos from Guatemala, Mexico and other countries yet, impoverished Guatemalans are fleeing drought; where maize, the main staple, cannot grow. The US depends upon migrant labor to plant and harvest our crops. A flawed government tracking system was unable to reunite families. I record the seven children known to die in US custody and the essentials denied them.

In Memoriam

Mariee Juarez, 19 months, Guatemala (May, 2018)
Darlyn Cristobal Córdova-Valle, 10, El Salvador (September, 2018)
Jakelin Caal Maquín, 7, Guatemala (September, 2018)
Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, Guatemala (Christmas Eve 2018)
Juan de Leon Gutiérrez, 16, Guatemala (April, 2019)
Wilmer Josué Ramírez Vásquez, 2, Guatemala (May, 2019)
Carlos Hernandez Vásquez, 16, Guatemala (May, 2019)